(Updates with details, quotes)
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 19 (Reuters) – The launch of a
privately owned Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station was delayed on Saturday when a computer detected a
possible problem with one of the rocket’s engines, a Space
Exploration Technologies official said.
Preparations for the company’s trial cargo run to the
International Space Station proceeded smoothly until 4:55 a.m.
EDT (0855 GMT) when an onboard computer aborted the launch.
“Liftoff … we’ve had a cutoff. Liftoff did not occur,”
said NASA launch commentator George Diller, caught off guard by
the sudden, last-minute turn of events.
A computer monitoring the rocket’s nine engines detected a
climbing pressure reading in one engine’s chambers and halted
the launch 0.5 seconds before liftoff, SpaceX president Gwynne
Shotwell told reporters.
“Just like a pilot at the end of a runway revs the engines
and looks at the gauges. We were revving the engines, we were
looking at the gauges and we decided not to fly,” Shotwell said,
adding that the problem was unlikely to be a sensor issue.
The company’s next launch opportunity is at 3:44 a.m. EDT
(0744 GMT) on Tuesday.
It is trying to send the unmanned rocket, carrying a Dragon
cargo capsule, to the International Space Station, and would be
the first private company to do this.
SpaceX is one of two firms hired by NASA to fly cargo to the
$100 billion orbital outpost, which is owned by the United
States, Russia, Europe,Japan and Canada.
Since the U.S. space shuttles were retired last year, NASA
has had no way to reach the station and is dependent on its
partner countries to fly cargo and crew. It hopes to change that
by buying rides commercially from U.S. companies.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz, 001321 639 1511,; editing by Tim
Pearce)
