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A blackout in the Santa Barbara area caused massive communication disruptions and forced a rescheduling of the SpaceX launch, planned Tuesday afternoon.
The Santa Barbara area halt disrupts communications at the Traffic Control Center for Los Angeles Air Routes, which manages air traffic in the Pacific, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. A spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Emergency Management Department confirmed with KTLA that 911 services were also affected countywide.
Confusion was sparked as SpaceX was planning to launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in northwest Santa Barbara County, but airspace concerns from the FAA caused the launch to scrub.
“The FAA has taken this step to ensure the safety of those traveling,” a statement from the federal agency reads.
SpaceX was intended for release around 11:15am, and the countdown clock was performed within one minute of startup time. However, the mission was given a “no go” and was scheduled for the same approximate window on Wednesday.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA tracers (tandem reconnection and CUSP electrodynamic reconnaissance satellite) will be held vertically on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SpaceX.
The launch of Falcon 9 is the first part of NASA’s Tracers mission, with how Twin Satellites put launches into orbit into orbit to study the Earth’s magnetic shield and protect plants from the solar wind.
“When you fly the pole to the pole in solar-synchronous orbit, two tracer spacecraft measures how magnetic explosions zoom these solar wind particles down into the Earth’s atmosphere and how these explosions form the weather in space that affect satellites, technology and astronauts.
Three small research satellites were also on board, according to NASA.
Despite the delays, NASA said the payload of the rocket remains “healthy” and there are no indications that Wednesday’s launch in Vandenburg will not occur.
As of 3pm, Santa Barbara County communications disruption is underway.
Lily Dallow of KTLA contributed to this report.
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