After being scrubbed for launch yesterday due to an electrical issue on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, SpaceX is now on track to launch its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon on the 17th Commercial Resupply Service to the International Space Station for NASA.
SpaceX's Dragon will carry 5,500 tons of experiments and supplies to the International Space Station. All systems are currently go and weather is 70% favorable for launch of Dragon's 17th resupply mission at 2:48 a.m. EDT (2:48 p.m. GMT+8) today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Pad 40.
An electrical problem on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You parked just off the coast of Cape Canaveral prompted SpaceX to scrub yesterday's Falcon 9 launch attempt, delaying the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station by 24 hours.
The Falcon 9 countdown halted around 15 minutes prior to the rocket's appointed launch time at 3:11 a.m. EDT (3:11 p.m. GMT+8) on Friday. SpaceX's launch director announced over the countdown net that the company's drone ship where Falcon 9's first stage will attempt to land was unable to maintain power.
SpaceX was also evaluating a helium leak in a quick-disconnect interface at the launch pad, but official cited the drone ship issue as the reason for Friday's scrubbed launch attempt. The team lowered the Falcon 9 rocket horizontal to address the helium leak, while the football sized drone ship headed back to Port Canaveral later for servicing of the vessel's electrical power system.
The drone ship departed Port Canaveral a few hours later to head back to the Falcon 9 booster targeted landing site, which is about 17 miles Southeast of the rocket's launch pad.
Watch SpaceX launches its Dragon's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station today at 2:48 a.m. EDT (2:48 p.m. GMT+8) from the company's webcast embedded above.