SPACE reports that Blue Origin’s first mission “in more than 15 months was officially delayed on Monday (Dec. 18) after a last-minute scrub.” Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle “was originally supposed to lift off as early as 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT or 8:30 a.m. EST) on Monday.” Following a one-hour delay “due to cold temperatures at the company’s West Texas site, however, Blue Origin announced a scrub on X, formerly known as Twitter.” Officials said, “We’re scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the team is troubleshooting. We’ll provide a new launch target for this week soon.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Tag: December 18
Rocket Lab Readies Electron for Space Force–NASA DiskSat Test Flight
Space News reports, “A U.S. Space Force and NASA experiment is set to launch later this week to test a new small-satellite architecture designed for operations in very low Earth orbit. Four flat, disk-shaped satellites known as DiskSats are scheduled to launch no earlier than 12:00 a.m. Eastern on Dec. 18 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. The mission, designated STP-S30, was accelerated from an initial target of spring 2026.”
Full Story (Space News)