CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX on Thursday has scrubbed its launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an international communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
[PICS: SpaceX to attempt launch from Cape ]
The two-hour launch window will reopen at 5:40 p.m. on Friday.
"Out of an abundance of caution, launch postponed until no earlier than tomorrow for addtl data review," SpaceX said in a tweet, adding that the Falcon 9 and spacecraft are healthy.
Just before 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, the countdown clock was halted due to an unknown issue. The new launch time was set for 7:36 p.m.
There was a 90 percent chance of favorable weather at Launch Complex 40 on Thursday.
If the launch moves to Saturday, the weather odds are 50-50.
Thick and cumulus clouds and gusty winds will combine for a 40 percent chance of favorable launch conditions during the two-hour window at Launch Complex 40, according to the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron.
SpaceX's 2014 launch of the Thaicom 6 mission was then only the company’s second sending a communications satellite to an orbit 22,300 miles over the equator, flights that require multiple firings by the upper-stage engine, News 6 partner Florida Today reports.
SpaceX on May 6 launched the Japanese JCSAT-14 communications satellite and landed the Falcon 9 booster on an unpiloted “drone ship” a couple of hundred miles offshore.
SpaceX will try to repeat the feat Friday, with the Falcon 9’s first stage again bound for a touchdown on its “Of Course I Still Love You” ship, about 10 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently reported that the booster recovered May 6 sustained the most damage yet of SpaceX's three landed rockets, raising doubts about whether it could be launched again.
If all goes well, the Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage will deploy the satellite 32 minutes after liftoff.
The launch is SpaceX’s fifth this year, and the fourth by an upgraded version of the Falcon 9 introduced after a failure last summer.
News 6 will bring you the launch live on air and ClickOrlando.com.
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