“We are awaiting launch because there is a launch ahead of us that we will be reusing the boosters from,” she said. NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer mission, originally scheduled for 2017, has been delayed until spring 2019 at the earliest because of problems with a Pegasus XL rocket. The rocket has been hampered by issues with its separation system and off-nominal data that led to launches in late 2017, June 2018 and November 2018 being abandoned. In addition to the launch delays, NASA is also working on an alternative mission called IXV, which will be launched as soon as possible after the current one ends in 2020.
NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer mission, originally scheduled for 2017, has been delayed until spring 2019 at the earliest because of problems with a Pegasus XL rocket. The rocket has been hampered by issues with its separation system and off-nominal data that led to launches in late 2017, June 2018 and November 2018 being abandoned. In addition to the launch delays, NASA is also working on an alternative mission called IXV, which will be launched as soon as possible after the current one ends in 2020.