A Delta IV Heavy rocket's next launch attempt from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station has been scheduled for Saturday at 7:33 p.m., United Launch Alliance announced. A planned liftoff this evening was scrubbed because of an ongoing valve problem and the probability of high winds and thick clouds.
Mission managers decided to delay the launch until Saturday because of a 70 percent chance of continued high winds forecasted Friday, ULA said.
Saturday's forecast holds only a 20 percent chance of conditions that would prevent a launch.
Today's scrub was the third since Tuesday. ULA has encountered technical problems each day, but weather conditions were iffy Tuesday and today.
Officials said tonight that the faulty launch pad valve would have been repaired in time for a Friday launch attempt.
But strong wind gusts Friday were expected to prevent a launch, and even rollback of the mobile service tower.
The heavy-lift Delta IV rocket is set to deliver a classified satellite into space for the National Reconnaissance Office.
It would be the first unmanned rocket launch from the Cape since last June. ULA has 13 Cape missions on its manifest this year, and five more from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
IMAGE NOTE: Click on the image to enlarge it. A Delta IV Heavy rests on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: ULA/Karl Ronstrom.
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