A recent fire at one of the radar assets belonging to the Range resulted in damage that requires a large amount of repair. Initially it was thought the repairs would only take a few days, before later estimates noted it could take as long as 45 days.
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the National Reconnaissance Office (NROL-67) payload has been delayed .
As such, the SpaceX launch – which has been delayed several times for various reasons – remained on track for its latest target of March 30, with the Falcon 9 tasked with lofting the CRS-3/SpX-3 Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS). This schedule also allowed for an alternative launch date of April 2 – based on the shortest rendezvous time.
However, throughout the day L2 sources began noting information was being passed down the chain of command that the launch was to be delayed into April.
The reason for no immediate official comment from SpaceX was likely to be related to what was described as last ditch efforts to try and find a short-term solution to the Range situation, classed as alternative telemetry possibilities.
However, this effort was later portrayed as likely to be associated with creating expedited launch date options next month, as opposed to still being able to launch on Sunday.
The delay was confirmed by SpaceX in a response to NASASpaceFlight.com late on Wednesday.
“(SpaceX is) standing down for this weekend due to an issue with a mandatory range asset that’s required to support launch,” said SpaceX spokesperson Emily Shanklin to NASASpaceFlight.com
No realigned launch date has been announced at this time.
Old launch schedule before failure at this link
What needs to be adjusted:
2014
March 31 (TBD) - Dragon SpX-3 (CRS3), All-Star (THEIA), HoÂ’oponopono-2, SporeSat, TSAT (TestSat-Lite), KickSat (with 104 Sprites), PhoneSat 2.5 - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 02:50
NET March 25 26 27 April 10 - NRO L-67 - Atlas V 541 - Canaveral SLC-41 ~ 18:40 18:05-19:35
April 30 - Orbcomm G2 (x6) - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40 (or mid-April)
May 7 - NRO L-33 - Atlas V 401 - Canaveral SLC-41
May 15 - GPS IIF SV-6 (SVN67) - Delta-IV-M+(4,2) - Canaveral SLC-37B
May - AsiaSat 8 - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40
June - AFSPC-4: (GSAPх2), ANGELS - Delta IV-M+ (4,2) - Canaveral
July - GPS IIF SV-7 - Atlas V 401 - Canaveral SLC-41
July 25 August 8 - Dragon SpX-4 (CRS4) - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40
summer - AsiaSat 6 (Thaicom 7) - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40
September - CLIO - Atlas V - Canaveral SLC-41
November 27 - Dragon SpX-5 (CRS5) - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40
November - Orbcomm G2 (x11) - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40
early December - Orion: Exploration Flight Test 1 - Delta IV-H - Canaveral SLC-37B
December - Turkmensat - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40 (or Ariane 5 ECA)
4th quarter - GPS IIF SV-10 - Delta IV-M+(4,2) - Canaveral SLC-37B (or 1st half 2015)
NET 4th quarter - GPS IIF SV-8 - Delta-IV-M+(4,2) - Canaveral SLC-41
NET 4th quarter - GPS IIF SV-9 - Delta IV-M+(4,2) - Canaveral SLC-37B
piggybacked:
TBD - Kestrel Eye 1 - Falcon 9 v1.1/SSPS - TBD
Lesson - if the government has a node on your critical path you must consider how to replace it. SpaceX really needs to build their private launch sites or do higher energy dog-legs out of their alternate pad at the Air Force's Vandenberg AFB.