Due to the "crisis of the US government" the expected first launch of the heavy space vehicle SpaceX Falcon Heavy, which was to happen before the end of January this year, is postponed indefinitely. The fact is that the US Congress has not yet found a common agreement on the budget for 2018, therefore the work of all federal programs was suspended.
Similar incidents in the United States occur quite often and are very costly for the state treasury. For example, the last such crisis occurred in 2013 and brought losses to the US in the form of 24 billion dollars. In general, over the past 40 years, the country has witnessed more than ten such "government defaults."
"This event affected the demonstration launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket from SpaceX, which is of critical importance for future space missions," quotes The Verge words from SpaceX spokesman John Taylor.
In the 45th space wing of the US Air Force told that because of the crisis in the government are forced to temporarily remove part of the staff without which the agency will not be able to support commercial launches.
At the same time, NASA said that two planned ISS astronauts' launch into space in January-February will still take place. Similar missions will be held on time without changes.
As noted by Western media, not all state structures have suspended their work.
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