SpaceX postpones rocket launch due to 'actuator drift' problem

SpaceX called off its early morning rocket launch to the International Space Station, citing a last minute malfunction.

NASA said the SpaceX team had detected an actuator drift, causing the launch to be scrubbed. The next possible launch time is Friday at 2:09 a.m. Pacific time.

The launch byElon Musk's SpaceX could ultimately be most notable for what happens as it returns to Earth.

Besides delivering 5,000 pounds of food, equipment and experiments to the space station, SpaceX engineers are planning to attempt what has never been done. Instead of letting the rocket's towering first stage disintegrate upon reentry to the atmosphere, they plan to land it on a barge floating in the ocean.

The rocket was originally scheduled for liftoff at 3:20 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It's the first such mission since Oct. 28, when a supply ship that another company, Orbital Sciences, was operating for NASA exploded just seconds after leaving the launchpad.

Typically, the rocket's first stage, which includes the engines needed to blast it to space, is allowed to fall back to Earth after separating from its payload. After burning up in the atmosphere, it lands in pieces in the ocean or remote places.

But Musk wants to land the 14-story first stage, which includes nine engines, and reuse it on a future flight.

If successful, the feat could transform space travel by sharply lowering the cost.

"To say it would be revolutionary is absolutely true," said Charles Lurio, a Boston-based space analyst who publishes the Lurio Report. "It could be a race toward the bottom in terms of cost."

The space shuttle was reusable, Lurio said, but it was extraordinarily expensive to rebuild and refurbish once it was back on Earth.

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SpaceX postpones rocket launch due to 'actuator drift' problem