SpaceX launches deep space weather satellite

James Dean | Florida Today

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: SpaceX launch of DSCOVR SpaceX launched the $340 million Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission weather satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:03 p.m. NASA video. 02-11-15

CAPE CANAVERAL — A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the $340 million Deep Space Climate Observatory mission lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday evening, after being delayed several days because of radar issues and bad weather.

Rough seas prevented SpaceX from trying to land the rocket's booster on an ocean platform after the 6:03 p.m. ET launch. A first attempt after a January launch ended in disaster. But a vertical landing on the ocean gave SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hope that a future rocket landing on the platform might be possible in better weather.

The ocean-going platform SpaceX calls its "autonomous spaceport drone ship" has been stationed about 370 miles down range in anticipation of the experimental landing.

"The drone ship was designed to operate in all but the most extreme weather," the company said in a statement posted on its website earlier. "We are experiencing just such weather in the Atlantic with waves reaching up to three stories in height crashing over the decks."

Making matters worse, only three of the ship's four engines were working properly, reducing its stability.

SpaceX last month made its first attempt to land on the drone ship, after two soft landings in the water. The booster struck the ship, but too hard and at an angle, and was destroyed.

After liftoff, the setting sun illuminated the plume from the 224-foot rocket as it rumbled aloft on a northeast trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean.

Early milestones in the flight all went according to plan.

The satellite successfully separated from the rocket 35 minutes after liftoff. It will continue on a 110-day journey to a neutral orbit between the Earth and sun, a million miles away.

There it will monitor solar storms that can damage satellites, power grids and other infrastructure, enabling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide early warnings.

The spacecraft also carries two NASA instruments that will take pictures of the full, sunlit side of Earth and take measurements supporting climate research.

The mission was first proposed in 1998 by then-Vice President Al Gore, who named it Triana. The mission faced political opposition, lost its ride on a space shuttle and was stuck in storage for a decade.

It finally emerged with a new name and the NOAA-led space weather focus.

Gore was at Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch.

Two prior launch attempts scrubbed on Sunday and Tuesday, first because a tracking radar went down, then because high-altitude winds were too strong.