The mysterious Zuma payload sits atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A. Liftoff is currently scheduled for Nov. 17, 2017.
We’re going to have to wait at least another day to see the top-secret Zuma payload take flight.
The launch of Zuma atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been pushed to Friday (Nov. 17) at the earliest, officials with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing announced via Twitter today (Nov. 16).
“We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer,” SpaceX communications director John Taylor said in a statement this afternoon. “Though we have preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we will take the time we need to complete the data review and will then confirm a new launch date.”
The soonest Zuma can now lift off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is Friday, during a window that opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT on Nov. 18).
You can watch the Zuma launch live at Space.com , courtesy of SpaceX, beginning at about 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT). You can also watch it directly via SpaceX’s live webcast page here .
This is the second 24-hour delay for Zuma; the mission was originally scheduled to lift off Wednesday evening.
Zuma is a U.S. government payload headed for low-Earth orbit, but that’s pretty much all we know about the craft. It’s unclear what the satellite will do once it’s aloft, or which government agency will operate it.
The 45th Space Wing’s tweet does not necessarily mean that Zuma is an Air Force payload. The main mission of the 45th — which commands Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, both neighbors of KSC — involves helping ensure access to space and supporting a range of American spaceflight efforts.
The Zuma launch will also feature a landing attempt by the two-stage Falcon 9’s first stage. To date, SpaceX has pulled off 19 of these rocket touchdowns, and it has reflown landed boosters on three separate occasions.
This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. EST to include the statement from John Taylor.
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com .
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