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SpaceX launch of Italian satellite scrubbed due to cruise liner in hazard area

Launch scheduled for 6:11 p.m. Monday | News 6 will stream mission live at top of story

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station scheduled for Sunday evening was delayed 24 hours because a cruise liner was in the hazard area, the company said.

The launch was delayed until 6:11 p.m. on Monday.

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A separate Starlink launch was originally pushed back to Monday, but no there was no immediate word on the status of that launch.

Onboard the rocket is the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 2, the second in a series of four identical radar surveillance satellites developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). CSG-1 successfully launched and became operational in December 2019, and the final two launches are currently planned for 2024 and 2027. The constellation comprises of improved versions of the first generation of COSMO-SkyMed satellites which launched between June 2007 and November 2010, according to the European Space Agency.

The satellites themselves are used to develop imagery of the Earth’s surface regardless of weather conditions for civil and military purposes, according to ASI. Though the second generation is intended to replace the first, ASI refers to the five units currently in orbit as “eyes” that can be used to help predict and monitor natural disasters in any part of the world, such as floods or earthquakes.

News 6 will livestream the launch at the top of this story when it begins.