Rainy weather and thick clouds over Florida on Thursday forced Orbital ATK to postpone the planned launch of its Cygnus cargo craft toward the International Space Station, Nasa said.
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready shortly before a launch attempt was scrubbed due to poor weather conditions on launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in Cape Canave…
It will be interesting to see if the space spacecraft takes off on Friday as current weather forecasts have predicted only 30% chances of favorable weather conditions. The next opportunity is at 5:33 p.m. (2233 GMT) on Friday.
Orbital is using an Atlas V rocket – powered by Russian-made RD-180 engines – made by a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
An enhanced version of Orbital’s Cygnus cargo vessel, which can carry 53 percent more than its previous version, is loaded with 7,700 pounds of crew supplies, station hardware, and science experiments. Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas V, for this supply mission. Check back here at 4:30PM ET to watch the launch live.
Orbital’s last grocery run ended in a fiery explosion seconds after liftoff in October 2014.
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.
NASA has been working with companies like Orbital ATK and SpaceX. It was Orbital’s third launch under NASA’s $1.9 billion contract to lift off eight resupply missions. While NASA’s global partners have helped keep supplies flowing to astronauts aboard the station, this will be the first U.S.-based attempt since then.
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The mission also marks Orbital’s first launch from Florida, and the first cargo mission to the ISS from American soil since SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was lost in June. But it’s since picked up the slack, along with Japan.
