Atlas V, Cygnus to try Friday launch, weather permitting

Liftoff of the ULA Atlas 5 rocket is slated for 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT) on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Orbital ATK launch originally was scheduled for Thursday evening, but rain and heavy cloud cover forced postponement.

The next launch attempt is Saturday, although forecasters put the odds of acceptable conditions at a lowly 30 percent.

The launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for Thursday, has been cancelled because of bad weather conditions, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

This mission is the first Cygnus mission to utilize NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force base in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The private spaceflight company will be sending up its Cygnus cargo capsule – filled with 7,000 pounds of food, water, and supplies – to the International Space Station this afternoon.

Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news, product reviews, and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles.

Until that happens, the Cygnus will reach orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

However, in October previous year, a rocket to supply the ISS from Orbital Sciences was destroyed in a launch explosion. It had the last US resupply success, back in April. Still grounded in Virginia, Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas, to get supplies moving again and fulfill its NASA contract. The two HoloLens headsets were also in SpaceX’s cargo rocket, which had exploded a few minutes after its launch. As for now, the company is being extremely cautious with its upcoming launch launch – hence the delay yesterday.

The Orbital Sciences vehicle is also packing over 2,500 pounds of crew supplies, and a load of other hardware as well, like replacement parts for the ISS’ space suits.