If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member . If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further. File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Range personnel at Cape Canaveral will employ physical distancing, face covers and other cautionary measures to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus during launch operations, the commander of the U.S. military’s 45th Space Wing said. But the next launch from Cape Canaveral has been postponed from Thursday until no earlier than next week, sources said. SpaceX is planning to fire off a Falcon 9 rocket with the next batch of Starlink Internet satellites. The private satellite launch this week was scheduled for Thursday despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced delays in other space missions at Cape Canaveral. The U.S. Space Force said last week the next launch of a GPS navigation satellite — part of the country’s national security space program — has been delayed from late April until late June to protect ground crews from the virus. SpaceX’s launch launch of around 60 more satellites for the company’s Starlink network could still happen next week, sources said. Officials have not disclosed a reason for the delay from Thursday. With the Starlink project, SpaceX will deploy at least 1,500 orbiting relay nodes — and potentially thousands more — to beam Internet signals to homes and businesses around the world. The next batch of Starlink satellites are scheduled to blast off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A SpaceX spokesperson has not responded to questions on the impact of the pandemic on the company’s operations. […]
