The planned launch of NASA’s TRACERS mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base was scrubbed Tuesday morning just 45 seconds before liftoff due to Federal Aviation Administration airspace concerns. SpaceX cited a “no-go condition” triggered by the FAA, which was later attributed to a power outage that affected air traffic communications across the region.
According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, a regional power failure in Santa Barbara disrupted telecommunications at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center, which manages Pacific Ocean airspace. As a precaution, the FAA postponed the launch to ensure air traffic safety.
The new launch time for the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission, which will study how solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, is now set for Wednesday, July 23, at 11:13 a.m. PDT, with a 57-minute window.
