SpaceX postpones rocket launch again

It’s pre-loaded with a commercial communications satellite, called SES-9, which the rocket will boost into geostationary orbit.

Following the delay, the company issued a further statement explaining: “The team opted to hold launch to ensure liquid oxygen temperatures are as cold as possible in an effort to maximize performance of the vehicle”.

Weather conditions were looking 80 percent favorable, according to the company’s site, while they were 60 percent favorable Wednesday, but SpaceX cautioned that it’s still monitoring both upper level and ground level winds.

The countdown was halted about a half-hour before the launch window opened at 6:46 p.m. The launch has been postponed to tonight, Thursday, February 25, as a result of inclement weather.

SpaceX Photos/FlickrAccording to SpaceX’s Twitter feed, a potentially historic rocket launch set for Thursday night looks like it’ll be a go. Sea-based landings are considered to be much more hard. That weird moniker serves as a tribute to science-fiction author Iain M. Banks and the fanciful names he gave to his fictional sentient starships.

Headed by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also runs Tesla Motors, the company is working to hone the techniques of recycling rockets, instead of jettisoning their costly components after each launch. The SES-9 launch is a case in point.

SpaceX announcers said the Falcon 9 was not upright after reaching the 300-by-170 foot landing pad in choppy seas about 200 miles west of San Diego.

Bringing back the boosters intact is a key part of SpaceX’s strategy for making rockets more reusable and driving down the cost of access to orbit.