Florida: SpaceX has aborted the first orbital launch of Tuesday to re-supply cargo to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The countdown has aborted for today's launch attempt of @SpaceX #ISScargo mission to @Space_Station.
— NASA (@NASA) January 6, 2015
The next possible attempt has been rescheduled for Friday, at 5:09am EST as per NASA.
Next possible launch attempt for @SpaceX #ISScargo mission to @Space_Station is Friday at 5:09am EST pending resolution of the issue.
— NASA (@NASA) January 6, 2015
The countdown was aborted because of a misbehaving actuator that is used to steer the rocket in flight. The lift off was aborted with just a minute and 20 seconds left in the countdown. According to NASA, the launch team identified the problem in the actuator on the Falcon 9's second stage.
The California-based private spaceflight company was attempting to do something unusual in this mission, as this time it had aimed for a vertical test landing of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, topped by a Dragon capsule that's loaded with essential supplies on a barge in the Atlantic.
If the actuator issue can be resolved by Friday, the mission would be the first since an Antares rocket operated by rival Orbital Sciences Corp. exploded in October, as well as a SpaceX postponement last month.
SpaceX's goal is development of fully reusable rockets but Elon Musk predicts a 50-50 chance of success at best.
