SpaceX's Second Falcon Heavy Rocket Spectacle Slips to October [Air Force payload not ready]

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...alcon-heavy-rocket-spectacle-slips-to-october

SpaceX fans eager to watch the second launch of the company’s massive Falcon Heavy rocket should forget about witnessing a second spectacle in June and sit tight for a few more months.

The U.S. Air Force is targeting October for its Space Test Program 2 mission, known as STP-2, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space Command said in an email. The military had said earlier this year that it was targeting June, but the date has been pushed back due to ongoing qualification testing and engineering review.

Elon Musk-led Space Exploration Technologies Corp. pulled off its first Falcon Heavy test flight in February, delivering the chief executive officer’s cherry red Tesla Roadster with a spacesuit-wearing mannequin at the wheel toward an Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun. The Falcon Heavy mission for the Air Force will be its first for a paying customer. STP-2 has a number of objectives, including demonstrating the new rocket’s capabilities and launching several satellites.

“It’s not surprising that the target date slipped,” said Greg Autry, a professor at the University of Southern California and a former NASA White House liaison. “An Air Force payload is a lot different than a Tesla Roadster.”