SpaceX’s planned 26th Commercial Resupply Service mission (CRS-26) to the International Space Station was canceled today due to poor weather conditions along Florida’s Space Coast, with SpaceX and NASA setting the next target of 2:20 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 26, for liftoff from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center for liftoff.
Saturday’s launch means the cargo Dragon spacecraft will dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, Nov. 27, and it will provide vital research material, crew supplies and needed hardware to the crew on the orbiting lab, with the spacecraft scheduled to arrive at the station around 7:30 a.m. that morning.
The image depicts the Cargo Dragon spacecraft on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it is lifted into a vertical attitude at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 21, 2022, in preparation for the 26th commercial resupply service to the International Space Station. The mission will provide new science investigation supplies and equipment for the crew on board the station and also includes the next pair of solar panels for the ISS (iROSA).
Just 10 minutes before liftoff at 3:54 p.m. EDT, the countdown continued. Fueling of Falcon 9’s second stage has begun. The next steps were to cool the Falcon 9’s engines to make them launch-ready, perform pre-launch checks on the flight computer and then raise the rocket’s propellant tanks to flight pressure. At that point, SpaceX had issued a “ready to launch” command. Then, shortly before liftoff, mission managers canceled the launch due to severe weather conditions in the NASA Kennedy Space Center area of Florida.
The rocket to be launched was SpaceX’s Falcon 9, consisting of two stages of rocket engines, with the Falcon 9’s first stage powered by nine Merlin engines that ignite at T-0 during the launch phase. The rocket’s second stage has only one Merlin engine, which takes over after the first stage is separated. The Merlin engines run on a combination of cryogenic liquid oxygen and a refined kerosene fuel called RP-1.
The Dragon cargo spacecraft, mounted on top of the rocket, carries cargo destined for the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft provides a pressurized section and a non-pressurized “trunk” section to carry additional cargo.
