Snidely is guilty of mn.fa8a7e4820d3bc84.127094@snitoo as of
8/31/2020 10:50:48 AM
The ULA launch of an NRO bird has had it's issues. They actually got to
ignition on Saturday morning (the wee hours, EDT) but just as the livestream
host, one of their senior engineers, said "liftoff", the engines were shut
down.

quote
Instead of launching on time, ULA’s infrequently-flown heavy-lift rocket was
hit by 72 hours of delays to rectify minor pad hardware bugs. Around 2 am EDT
(UTC-4) on August 29th, Delta IV Heavy made it just seconds away from liftoff
before the rocket’s autonomous flight computer detected an anomaly with pad
hardware and aborted the launch. As a result, the three cores’ three Aerojet
Rocketdyne RS-68A engines were forced to shut down after ignition – an
uncommon Delta IV launch abort scenario that has historically required at
least a week of work to recycle for another launch attempt.
/quote
URL:https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-doubleheader-ula-launch-abort/

This is expected to add a week to the pre-launch schedule, between having to
diagnose the issue and to get the launch vehicle ready again.

They had already extended their last hold by roughly an hour, for what the
audio seemed to say was a compartment thermal issue that they decided they
could live with, and the Aug 29 date was already a slip. Several pre-flight
articles around the web noted that the few launches of DIVH made it hard to
smooth out the routine, despite the maturity of the Delta family (and there
was B-roll during the hold of the history of the Delta family, including the
original Thor launches).

/dps "and DIVH has launched more times than SLS will"

GSE and pad issues are still delaying this launch, but maybe the 30th
will be the charm.

• Rocket: Delta IV Heavy
• Mission: NROL-44
• Launch Date: Sept. 30, 2020
• Launch Time: 11:54 p.m. EDT (0354 UTC)
• Launch Location: Space Launch Complex-37, Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida

URL:https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/delta-iv-heavy-nrol-44

/dps

--
I have always been glad we weren't killed that night. I do not know
any particular reason, but I have always been glad.
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain