spacetoday.net: Orbital, SpaceX launches postponed

Posted: Tue, Jun 24, 2014, 8:16 AM ET (1216 GMT)
Falcon 9 launch of Thaicom 6 (SpaceX)

SpaceX has delayed its next attempt to launch six ORBCOMM satellites until early July, while Orbital Sciences Corporation has pushed back its next cargo supply mission to the International Space Station by over a week. SpaceX, which scrubbed a Saturday launch attempt because of weather and postponed a Sunday attempt to investigate a technical problem, was initially planning a launch attempt on Tuesday. However, the company said Monday it wanted to take "a closer look at a potential issue" found on Sunday, and would delay until next week to check out the problem and also to allow scheduled maintenance work on the Eastern Range to proceed. SpaceX is now planning a launch attempt some time in the first week of July. Orbital, meanwhile, announced Monday it was delaying the Antares launch of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft from July 1 to no earlier than July 10. The launch, which had been planned for early June, has been delayed to accommodate an investigation into the failure of an AJ26 engine, which powers the rocket's first stage, during a test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in May.