March 28, 2024

NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Launch Scrubbed Because of Rocket Fuel Leak

Introduce of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 18, 2021. Credit: United Launch Alliance
The December 5 launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket carrying the Department of Defenses (DOD) Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission has actually been scrubbed. Throughout preliminary operations, a leak was discovered in the Rocket-Propellant-1 (RP-1) ground storage system. Launch of the objective– which hosts NASAs Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder– is now arranged for Monday, Dec. 6, at 4:04 a.m. EST
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