The rocket is due to lift off early Thursday evening with 7,400 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station.
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However, poor weather including rain and cloudy skies at the seaside Florida launch site forced ULA to postpone the launch.
It’s heading for the International Space Station (ISS), where it will deliver 3.5kg of food, clothes, supplies and technology for science experiments. SpaceX also is stuck on Earth, at least until next month.
This is an important launch for Orbital after its failed launch in October of a year ago, when its Antares rocket exploded 15 seconds from launch, turning the cargo into a fireball and damaging Wallops Island’s launchpad. Still grounded in Virginia, Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas, to get supplies moving again and fulfill its NASA contract.
The Atlas V rocket has proved consistently reliable since its maiden launch in 2002, suffering only one significant issue in 2007 when a valve leak in the upper stage caused it to shut down early.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch Orbital ATK’s Cygnus™ spacecraft on the initial leg of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready for a second launch attempt at launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The next attempt at launch will come on Friday at 5:33pm (9:33pm GMT or 3:03am IST, Saturday), with the opening of a 30-minute launch window, Nasa said.
Orbital is now installing the first set of RD-181 engines in an Antares first stage.
You actually may be able to see a bit of the rocket’s flight even from the D.C. area as it will theoretically be visible across the Eastern coast of the US if the weather is good.
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The mission is the first of a Cygnus spacecraft with capacity increased by 25 percent to allow the delivery of more cargo.
