spacetoday.net: Technical glitches scrub Falcon 9 launch

Posted: Tue, Nov 26, 2013, 6:49 AM ET (1149 GMT)
Falcon 9 v1.1 before SES-8 launch

A series of technical problems prevented SpaceX from carrying out its launch of a commercial GEO satellite on Monday evening, delaying the launch until at least Thursday. SpaceX had hoped to launch a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket carrying the SES-8 satellite during a 66-minute window that opened at 5:37 pm EST (2237 GMT) Monday. However, the countdown stopped a little over six minutes before launch because of a telemetry limit issue with a power supply as the first stage transitioned to internal power. SpaceX reset the countdown and tried again, but held at 3:40 before launch because of what the company said were "unexpected readings" with the first stage liquid oxygen system. Assuming the problems are resolved, SpaceX plans to make another launch attempt at 5:38 pm EST (2238 GMT) Thursday. The launch will be the second for the Falcon 9 v1.1 and seventh for the Falcon 9 family overall, but the first to carry a satellite payload to geosynchronous orbit.