BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Bad weather delayed the launch of SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket but the scrubbed launch still made headlines.
The tower at Launch Complex 39-A was hit by lightning Thursday night. The storm that produced the strike also brought hail and tornado warnings to the space coast, WFTV reported.
Last night’s storm in Florida produced hail, tornadoes, and lightning. Following this strike on the tower at 39A, teams performed additional checkouts of Falcon Heavy, the payloads, and ground support equipment pic.twitter.com/GZwCARaZTx
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 28, 2023
Crews checked out the area and found no damage to the rocket, payloads or ground support equipment.
The Falcon Heavy is still scheduled to launch on Friday night with 50% favorable weather at the beginning of the launch window at 7:29 p.m EDT with the chances increasing to 70% at the end of the launch timeframe, SpaceX said on Twitter late Friday afternoon.
T-2 hours until Falcon Heavy's launch of @ViasatInc’s ViaSat-3 Americas mission; weather forecast is 50% favorable at the opening of the window, improves to 70% toward the end → https://t.co/ulZth3yuU5 pic.twitter.com/THa13AVo4G
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 28, 2023
For the latest updates on the launch, visit SpaceX’s mission website.
