High wind keeps supplies for space station grounded

Bad weather has played spoilsport as the Atlas V rocket carrying the Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft arrives at the launch pad Wednesday, December 2, 2015, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Orbital ATK is one of two commercial spaceflight companies with contracts to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security and its headquarters are located in Centennial.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Once again, high wind is keeping space station supplies stuck on Earth.

The Orbital’s Cygnus capsule will deliver 3,500 kilograms of cargo and includes food and Christmas gifts to the space station spacewalking gear, high-pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks for the air supply, and science experiments.

Strong winds also delayed Friday’s attempt, and rainy weather postponed the initial launch bid on Thursday. The team will try again Sunday.

Technical issues cropped up around the four-hour mark in the countdown, pushing the launch time to 5:33 p.m., the last possible moment for the day.

An unmanned rocket loaded with 7,400 pounds of cargo for the International Space Station – the first US shipment in months – was grounded by risky gusts Saturday. It was cancelled back in 2014 after the Antares rocket that normally carries the spacecraft to space exploded seconds after liftoff, according to Engadget.

The other company, SpaceX, was recovering from a similar launch explosion in June this year as well.

The Cygnus spacecraft set to launch is dubbed the S.S. Deke Slayton II, after the original Project Mercury astronaut and pioneer of the first privately funded rocket.