On Saturday morning, SpaceX will attempt to launch a new GPS satellite for the US Air Force from Florida — the last mission of the year for the company. If successful, SpaceX will finish 2018 with 21 launches and beat out its own record of 18 missions last year. However, viewers won’t get to see one of SpaceX’s rocket landings this time around, as the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite will be deposited in the ocean.
SpaceX has been trying to get this launch off the ground for the last week, but a combination of bad weather and strange sensor readings on the rocket forced the company to push back the mission until Saturday, December 22nd. There was also some concern that a looming government shutdown might affect operations this...