NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:00 ET
- SpaceX delayed the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 mission again on Sunday and did not announce a new launch date
- The company cited additional launch-pad checks after an earlier scrub linked to ground equipment issues
- The payload is a dual-use radar Earth observation satellite for Italy’s space agency and defence ministry
SpaceX delayed for a second straight night its planned Falcon 9 launch carrying Italy’s 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.
The delay matters because the flight was slated to be SpaceX’s 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.
It also pushes back a mission tied to Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed programme, a civil-and-military Earth observation system that provides radar imagery for uses ranging from emergency response to maritime surveillance.
SpaceX said it was standing down “to allow more time to perform ground system checkouts,” adding that a new target date will be announced once confirmed. Spaceflight Now
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions indicated the launch had slipped to at least Tuesday evening, Spaceflight Now reported.
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.
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.
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’s space agency.
It carries synthetic aperture radar, a radar imaging system that can capture detailed pictures through clouds and in darkness.
Spaceflight Now said the satellite is intended for a sun-synchronous polar orbit — a path that crosses the same parts of Earth at roughly the same local time each day — and that its data is distributed through the European Space Agency’s third-party missions programme.
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.
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.
Such landings can produce sonic booms that may be heard across parts of California’s central coast depending on atmospheric conditions, Noozhawk said.
SpaceX did not say when the next launch attempt would occur, leaving the company’s year-end manifest dependent on resolving the pad-related issues at Vandenberg.
