Weather, glitch delays space station supply ship's debut

The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft is set to launch one day later than originally planned, due to poor weather and a bad cable.

A combination of bad weather and a technical glitch have pushed a brand-new supply ship's debut test flight to the International Space Station back at least one day, to Wednesday (Sept. 18).

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The unmannedCygnus spacecraft, built by Virginia-based company Orbital Sciences, is now scheduled to blast off atop an Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Va., on Wednesday (Sept. 18) rather than Tuesday. Liftoff is set for 10:50 a.m. EDT (1450 GMT).

"The combination of yesterdays poor weather that delayed rollout of the rocket to the launch pad and a technical issue that was identified during a combined systems test held last night involving communications between ground equipment and the rockets flight computer drove the decision to delay the launch," Orbital Science officials wrote in an update Saturday (Sept. 14). [See photos of the new Cygnus spacecraft's launch pad trip]

"After comprehensive inspection and testing this morning, the problem was found and turned out to be an inoperative cable, which is being replaced," they added. "Orbital will repeat the combined systems test later today. Once that important test is successfully completed, the team will be able to proceed toward a September 18 launch."

The cylindrical Cygnus spacecraft and its Antares rocket are designed to launch cargo delivery missions to the space station for NASA. Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion deal with NASA for eight Cygnus delivery missions, but these flights can begin only after the company proves the spacecraft is ready to haul supplies to the orbiting lab.

Orbital Scienceslaunched the first Antares rocket test flight in April. But that demonstration carried only a mass simulator designed to mimic the weight of a Cygnus spacecraft on the rocket. Wednesday's planned launch will lift off from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

The mission will mark the debut of a fully functional Cygnus cargo ship, Orbital Sciences officials said. If all goes well, the Cygnus supply ship will arrive at the International Space Station on Sept. 22 after a series of in-orbit tests, NASA officials said.

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Weather, glitch delays space station supply ship's debut