IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

SpaceX Will Have to Wait a Little Longer For Its Return to Flight

Four months after a launch pad explosion, SpaceX was ready to return to flight on Sunday. There was just one little problem.
Image: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket makes a successful launch
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket makes a successful launch with the SES-9 communications satellite on March 4, 2016 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.NASA / NASA via Getty Images

Four months after a launch pad explosion sidelined SpaceX, the company was ready to return to flight on Sunday.

There was just one little problem: the weather.

SpaceX was set to launch Iridium communications satellites into orbit on Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base. However, high winds and rain led to the decision to postpone the launch.

Related: SpaceX Explains September Explosion, Ready to Return to Flight

The next opportunity will be January 14 at 9:54 am, according to a tweet from SpaceX.

The launch was set to come one week after SpaceX shared the findings of an investigation into a launchpad anomaly in September, which destroyed an AMOS-6 communications satellite for a Facebook-Eutelsat joint venture, which would have brought internet access to underserved parts of the world.

The cause of the anomaly is complex. Chilled helium apparently caused carbon fibers and aluminum to cool at different rates in the second stage of the rocket. That created gaps between two layers of overwrap, where liquid oxygen escaped and got trapped.

This chain of events then led to the failure of one of the protective layers. Static ignited the trapped oxygen, setting off a chain of catastrophic explosions, SpaceX said.