Dragon Cargo Vessel Launch to International Space Station Suspended: NASA

The launch of the Dragon spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station (ISS)was postponed again, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

WASHINGTON, January 6 (Sputnik) — The launch of the Dragon spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed yet again, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Tuesday.

The cargo vessel was to be launched from the Cape Canaveral space center in Florida at 11:18 GMT. The Dragon's launch was aborted two minutes after the planned start due to a technical malfunction of the second booster, according to the agency.

NASA added that the spacecraft's launch has been rescheduled for 10:09 GMT Friday, January 9.

At 1:21 before launch, a thrust vector control actuator for the Falcon 9’s 2nd stage failed to perform as expected. @SpaceX is evaluating.

— NASA (@NASA) 6 января 2015

Dragon's fifth mission has been postponed twice before, for reasons including technical problems.

SpaceX, a private Dragon and its Falcon 9 carrier rocket developer under contract with NASA, undertook to carry out 12 launches to the ISS before 2016. In addition to delivering supplies to the ISS, last September it won a $6.8 billion contract along with Boeing to carry out manned missions to the ISS.

Dragon is currently the only spacecraft capable of returning cargo from the ISS back to Earth. SpaceX is developing its manned spacecraft using the blueprint of its Dragon capsule.