LightSail 2 Has a New Launch Date!

In previous blogs, I’ve shared the inherent risk that our launch date might slip. As if to prove my point, we are learning today that the date has, indeed, slipped! The official launch date is now no earlier than June 24th. The launch window still opens at 11:30 p.m., eastern time. For more background, head over to Space.com.

As a result, we are updating our travel recommendation for members who want to participate in the launch and our related member activities. We now recommend arriving on Saturday, 22 June, and leaving on Wednesday, 26 June. The Society will offer activities on 23 June and 24 June, with 25 June as the backup launch date.

It’s important to be mindful that this may not be the last change in schedule! Launches are incredibly exciting, but the risks of changes are real. A number of factors that can lead to a launch delay such as this, and further delays are always a possibility. We will continue to do our best to keep you informed.

We are also looking forward to making tickets available for the launch experience. Schedule changes such as this have a ripple effect on the details of the event planning process, so this delay also means a short delay on the timing of when our ticket sales web pages will go live. We are not permitted to sell our block of launch tickets to members until the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex begins to sell to the public. We are hopeful that ticket sales may happen early next week. So, once again, I say… stay tuned! We will email all members as soon as we are permitted to begin sales.

We appreciate the patience of our members and backers!