SpaceX's planned launch of its sixth batch of 60 Starlink broadband satellites literally fizzled out today, apparently due to an engine power problem on the Falcon 9 rocket.
- The countdown at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A in Florida went all the way to zero at 9:22 a.m. ET (6:22 a.m. PT), and SpaceX's launch commentator reported ignition. But the rocket didn't go anywhere, because a yet-to-be-determined problem arose when the first-stage engines powered up.
- The first-stage booster has been used four times before and was readied for a precedent-setting fifth launch. The rocket's nose cone, or fairing, was recovered after the first 60-satellite Starlink launch last May and refurbished for this mission.
- The mission aims to add to the current constellation of 300 Starlink satellites, which are built at SpaceX's facility in Redmond, Wash., to provide global internet access. SpaceX will schedule another launch attempt once it resolves the issue that led to today's abort.
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