NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:00 ET<\/p>\n
SpaceX delayed the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 mission again on Sunday and did not announce a new launch dateThe company cited additional launch-pad checks after an earlier scrub linked to ground equipment issuesThe payload is a dual-use radar Earth observation satellite for Italy\u2019s space agency and defence ministry<\/p>\n
SpaceX delayed for a second straight night its planned Falcon 9 launch carrying Italy\u2019s COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 satellite from California, saying it needs more time to check launch-pad systems and has not set a new liftoff date. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n The delay matters because the flight was slated to be SpaceX\u2019s last Falcon 9 mission of 2025, capping a year in which the company has leaned on rapid pad turnarounds to keep its launch tempo high. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n It also pushes back a mission tied to Italy\u2019s COSMO-SkyMed programme, a civil-and-military Earth observation system that provides radar imagery for uses ranging from emergency response to maritime surveillance. [3]<\/a><\/p>\n SpaceX said it was standing down \u201cto allow more time to perform ground system checkouts,\u201d adding that a new target date will be announced once confirmed. [4]<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions indicated the launch had slipped to at least Tuesday evening, Spaceflight Now reported. [5]<\/a><\/p>\n The mission had already been scrubbed on Saturday because of a ground issue, after earlier concerns that wind could interfere with liftoff plans, local outlet Noozhawk reported. [6]<\/a><\/p>\n SpaceX initially retargeted the launch for Sunday evening from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, before delaying again on Sunday and leaving the schedule open-ended. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n The COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 spacecraft is an Italian Earth observation satellite designed for both civilian and military customers, according to Spaceflight Now and Italy\u2019s space agency. [8]<\/a><\/p>\n It carries synthetic aperture radar, a radar imaging system that can capture detailed pictures through clouds and in darkness. [9]<\/a><\/p>\n Spaceflight Now said the satellite is intended for a sun-synchronous polar orbit \u2014 a path that crosses the same parts of Earth at roughly the same local time each day \u2014 and that its data is distributed through the European Space Agency\u2019s third-party missions programme. [10]<\/a><\/p>\n The first COSMO-SkyMed second-generation satellite launched in January 2021 on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana, and the second launched a year later on a Falcon 9 from Florida, Spaceflight Now reported. [11]<\/a><\/p>\n SpaceX planned to fly the mission on a previously used Falcon 9 first-stage booster and attempt to land it back at Vandenberg around eight minutes after liftoff, Noozhawk reported. [12]<\/a><\/p>\n Such landings can produce sonic booms that may be heard across parts of California\u2019s central coast depending on atmospheric conditions, Noozhawk said. [13]<\/a><\/p>\n SpaceX did not say when the next launch attempt would occur, leaving the company\u2019s year-end manifest dependent on resolving the pad-related issues at Vandenberg. [14]<\/a><\/p>\n References<\/p>\n 1. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 2. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 3. www.asi.it<\/a>, 4. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 5. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 6. www.noozhawk.com<\/a>, 7. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 8. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 9. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 10. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 11. spaceflightnow.com<\/a>, 12. www.noozhawk.com<\/a>, 13. www.noozhawk.com<\/a>, 14. spaceflightnow.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:00 ET SpaceX delayed the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 mission again on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[126288,13190,111,139,69,47757,147,392,1503,13199],"class_list":{"0":"post-206918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-cosmo-skymed","9":"tag-falcon-9","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-satellite-launch","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-space","16":"tag-spacex","17":"tag-vandenberg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}