Complaints that the cruise vessel caused interference

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has begun an investigation into Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, blaming the cruise vessel for its botched space launch.

It is alleged that, after the Harmony of the Seas vessel entered the no-go zone for the January 30 SpaceX launch, causing the Falcon 9 launch to be botched. The Coast Guard has confirmed that Harmony of the Seas was the ship that caused the mission to be botched just seconds before launch.

At T-minus 34 seconds before the SpaceX launch at 6:11 pm, the launch director called “Hold! Hold! Hold! Aborting launch auto. This is the launch director calling a hold. We have a red range for a fouled range, with a ship in the hazard area.”

Two ships had departed from Port Canaveral that evening: Harmony of the Seas and MSC Meraviglia. At the time the launch was called off, MSC Meraviglia was still in the port channel and not affecting the exclusion zones established during rocket launches.

Harmony of the Seas identified at fault

However, the Harmony of the Seas had left the port earlier and turned south and was seen by beachgoers lingering offshore, as the launch window approached. As reported by Florida Today, the US Coast Guard issued a statement about the incident on Monday, January 31. 

“We can confirm the cruise ship was Harmony of the Seas,” USGS spokesperson David Micallef said saying, “the Coast Guard is actively investigating Sunday’s cruise ship incursion and postponement of the SpaceX launch.”

Because the launch, which was carrying the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation satellite, required a precise liftoff time and a southerly track to meet its polar orbit, the launch window was instantaneous and could not be delayed to escort the ship from the restricted area. Launch engineers had been monitoring the cruise ship’s position until the last possible moment before calling for the scrub.

Port Canaveral is the second-busiest cruise port in the world, with 11 cruise ships currently home-ported on the Space Coast. Space Launch Delta 45, headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base south of Port Canaveral and in command of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, issues hazard area maps and coordinates prior to every launch.

All mariners – from individual boaters to commercial freighters to cruise ship captains – are expected to be aware of sailing restrictions during launch periods.