The launch of a U.S. spy satellite from Florida was called off early Saturday morning, just three seconds before the rocket was to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Flames already were spewing from engines on the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy, but a computer aborted the launch.

Mission directors quickly worked to ensure the rocket was secured and its fuel drained so engineers could further investigate the cause of the problem and crews could assess any damage to the launch pad.

"The bird is in good shape," Tony Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, tweeted after the abrupt halt. "This was an automatic abort during the ignition sequence. Cause seems to have been in the ground system."

ULA said the "required recycle time prior to the next launch attempt is seven days minimum."

The "hot fire abort" came at 3:37 a.m., a little over an hour after the initial planned liftoff. The first delay occurred because the temperature in a rocket compartment was slightly below the norm.

The launch already had been postponed from Thursday because of other technical problems.

The mission, called NROL-44, was to have been the 12th launch of a Delta IV Heavy, which was first used in 2004.

The National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that is overseeing the spy satellite launch, is part of the Defense Department. According to its mission statement, it is responsible for developing, launching and operating America's reconnaissance satellites, along with data-processing facilities.

That data is used by the National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to produce photos, maps, reports and other tools for the president, Congress, national policymakers, warfighters and others.

The Delta IV Heavy, the fourth version of the Delta rocket, was developed to carry out missions for the reconnaissance office, U.S. Space Force and NASA. It also launched NASA's Orion capsule in a 2014 test flight and sent the Parker Solar Probe into the sun's outer atmosphere.

ULA plans only three more Delta IV Heavy launches from Florida -- including this one -- and two more from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After that, the company plans to use its Vulcan rocket, which is under development.

Paul Brinkmann contributed to this story.

Related Links
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Earth Observant wins Air Force contract to further development
San Francisco CA (SPX) Aug 07, 2020
Earth Observant Inc. (EOI) received this award under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program and is working with AFWERX, the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Selected from a competitive line-up of start-up companies, EOI is eager to apply the SBIR award toward advancing its vision for a VLEO satellite imaging platform. To achieve near-real time transmission of satellite optical imagery, EOI is analyzing and reworking the entire ima ... read more