Cygnus Spacecraft Launch to ISS Cancelled Over Bad Weather

NASA reported that the launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for Thursday, has been cancelled because of bad weather conditions.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for Thursday, has been cancelled because of bad weather conditions, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

"With no signs poor weather conditions would clear in time for a launch today, the launch managers scrubbed today’s try. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft will be configured to launch tomorrow at 5:33 p.m. EST, the opening of a 30-minute window," NASA informed on its website on Thursday.

"The forecast tomorrow calls for a 30 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time," NASA said on Thursday, informing of the rescheduling.

The delayed mission will be Orbital ATK’s fourth to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company. According to NASA, this will be the first flight of an "enhanced" Cygnus spacecraft, which has a higher payload capacity and new fuel tanks.

The improvements come after the October 2014 accident, when an Orbital ATK Antares rocker that was to deliver a Cygnus spacecraft to the ISS crashed six seconds after launch. Orbital ATK suspended deliveries to the ISS after the crash.