High winds delay Orbital space cargo launch again

Orbital ATK is one of the two commercial companies hired by NASA after the space shuttles were retired to fly cargo to the ISS. However, the weather forecast for Friday is only 30 percent favorable for takeoff, the USA space agency said. The Atlas V is unusual in that it allows for an extended 30 minute launch window, allowing time to resolve technical glitches or for foul weather to clear.

An unmanned Atlas rocket stood ready to lift off at sunset with 7,400 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station, representing the first United States delivery in months.

As per the contract with NASA, Orbital will have to carry 44,000 pounds of cargo to the farthest outpost of mankind, the ISS or the International Space Station.

The lift-off of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday was postponed “because of wind gusts that exceeded the weather criteria for launching”, Xinhua quoted NASA as saying in a launch blog.

Much-needed food is inside the cargo carrier, named Cygnus after the swan constellation. The station-bound research includes mini satellites to be released in the weeks ahead by the astronauts.Kaber: although not designed or built in Canada, this new component for the station will be used by Dextre – the space station’s Canadian-built robotic “handyman” – to launch microsatellites into Earth orbit. Space station program manager Kirk Shireman expects it will take another year to get the pantry full again – provided there are no more accidents.

It’s another no-go for the first space station supply run in months from the U.S.

Orbital plans to launch another of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas rockets in March, then return its own Antares rocket to flight from Virginia in May.

NASA’s other contracted shipper, SpaceX, has been grounded since a failed launch in June.