Free Republic

SpaceX's most powerful rocket -- the Falcon Heavy -- was ready to send Saudi Arabia's Arabsat-6A telecommunications satellite into orbit Wednesday, but high atmospheric winds have forced SpaceX to postpone the launch by 24 hours. On Wednesday Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO suggested that a delay was likely due to "upper atmospheric wind shear" and SpaceX confirmed there would be no launch on the day. The launch was scheduled for no earlier than 5:32 p.m. PT after the atmospheric conditions pushed the historic flight all the way to the end of its launch window. SpaceX will now use its backup window...

The Arabsat-6A satellite has completed primary assembly and has been shipped to Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale, California facilities to begin testing in preparation for flight... When Arabsat-6A was transported from Denver to Sunnyvale, the satellite was housed inside of a "mobile clean room." This container ensures that the spacecraft was kept safe and secure. "Arabsat-6A and its companion satellite, Hellas Sat 4/SaudiGeoSat-1 are the most advanced commercial communications satellites we've ever built," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of Commercial Civil Space for Lockheed Martin via a statement issued by the company... If everything goes according to plan, Arabsat-6A...