An unmanned Atlas rocket is poised to lift off at 5:33 p.m. Friday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with 7,400 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station.
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Updates with launch delayed until Sunday by high wind.
The ULA program manager said the launch will be attempted two more times before Sunday, but if the weather remains an obstacle it will be rescheduled for a later date.
The return to flight mission for Orbital’s Enhanced Cygnus spacecraft is a cargo run to the International Space Station.
The other company, SpaceX, was recovering from a similar launch explosion in June this year as well.
The launch will be the first for Orbital ATK’s Cygnus aircraft since its Antares rocket exploded seconds after liftoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on October 28 2014. But it’s since picked up the slack, along with Japan. The forecast for December 5 shows a 30 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch tomorrow.
This time, the Cygnus spacecraft will deliver about 3,500 kgs of cargo, including food and Christmas gifts, to the space station.
High wind is once again keeping space station supplies stuck on Earth.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready for a second launch attempt at launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as photographers adjust their remote cameras, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The California company expects to resume deliveries in January with its Falcon rockets. Strapped into their Russian Soyuz TMA-17M capsule, Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui are expected to touch down in Kazahstan at 8:10 a.m. Eastern time to end a 141-day expedition. You’ll be able to watch the events unfold live later today.
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Launch director Bill Cullen called off the attempt three hours in advance.
