A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket conveying a National Reconnaissance Office ordered government operative satellite stays on the ground after a strategic Aug. 29 during the start grouping before the arranged 3:28 a.m. Eastern takeoff.
The dispatch of NROL-44 was prematurely ended three seconds before the rocket was to lift off from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The programmed prematurely end was set off by a hot fire after the Delta 4 Heavy’s three motors seemed to touch off however then shut off. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said on Twitter that the reason “appears to have been in the ground system.” He said the abort system “functioned as intended to protect the vehicle and payload.”
ULA said in an announcement it is “reviewing all data and will determine the path forward.” Another dispatch endeavor won’t occur for at any rate seven days.
This was the third dispatch endeavor in the same number of days after two cleans — one on Aug. 26 because of client solicitation and one on Aug. 27 coming about because of a specialized issue with the ground pneumatics control framework.
The Aug. 29 dispatch initially had been booked at 2:04 a.m. yet, was deferred by a warm inconsistency because of a lower than anticipated temperature in one of the rocket’s compartments.