NASA counting on 1st United States space station shipment in months

At the Space Launch Complex 41, the shuttle was scheduled to be launched today at 5:55 p.m. EST.

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.

The launch of the American Atlas V rocket with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral (Florida) to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed for about a day because of poor weather conditions, NASA representatives said on Friday.

The writing had been on the wall as soon as the weather briefing had been conducted however, with the weather officer stating that even the prediction of weather conditions providing only a 10 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch as being “optimistic”.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready for a second launch attempt at launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

They concluded that the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft, United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, and the personnel were ready for launch. Right now, take off is scheduled for 5:55PM ET, which marks the beginning of a 30-minute launch window.

The cargo ship is packed with more supplies than a Cygnus has ever carried, amounting to some 7,300 pounds (3,300 kilograms), company officials said. The spacecraft is capable of delivering more than 7,700 pounds of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to the International Space Station. NASA’s other contracted supplier, SpaceX, also remains stuck on Earth. The last successful USA cargo mission to the station was the previous Dragon mission in April.

Saturday also is a possibility, but United Launch Alliance still does not have full clearance that the range – the area beneath the rocket’s early path – will be clear and available. Although the space station is limping along on smaller loads of supplies provided by Japanese and European craft, the Orbital mission is carrying some much-needed replacement parts. Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the Atlas, for this supply mission.

Russian and Japanese vehicles have successfully ferried cargo to the station in the interim, easing the strain on supplies.

Meanwhile, work continues on the ground to get USA cargo launches back on track.

SpaceX hopes to return the Falcon 9 to flight later this month with a satellite launch, and then resume ISS flights soon after.