Because of anticipated tropical storm conditions in the region, NASA and SpaceX teams have rescheduled the next chance for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to no sooner than 1:17 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 28.
“Teams can now wrap up practicing launch day procedures with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, which arrived at Space Launch Complex-40 earlier on Tuesday night. After practice, the whole system will be moved back to the shelter as a precaution in case of any incoming storms.”
Tropical Storm Helene is likely to affect the Florida panhandle as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico, but because of the storm system’s size, severe blows, and heavy rain are predicted near the east coast towns of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island, Florida.
The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is scheduled to fly on the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to the International Space Station. On their five-month mission, they will carry out maintenance tasks and research. Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida is the mission’s launch pad.