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A historic mission to launch the first privately funded spacecraft into orbit was postponed today after cracks were found in the rocket’s motor. The launch at Cape Canaveral in Florida was put off until Thursday at the earliest.
If the damaged rocket nozzle needs to be replaced, the delay could be even longer, according to technicians. The SpaceX Dragon capsule is due to circle the Earth before re-entering and landing safely, another first for a non-NASA craft.
Other aerospace companies - including Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic - have carried out successful sub-orbital flights, but this would be the first to go beyond.
The mission will be keenly watched by NASA and the U.S. government which both hope that private companies will in the future play an important role to play in space exploration. But it was also be significant for the millions of people around the world who want to one day take a trip on board such a craft.
The Dragon capsule was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral at just after 2pm GMT todaty on top of an 18-storey Falcon 9 rocket. After four hours in a low-Earth orbit it will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and is expected to splash down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
The technical challenge is enormous and given the craft will be travelling at speeds of more than 17,000 miles per hour, the slightest error could result in disaster. SpaceX founder and Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk has admitted that the likelihood of the launch going correctly ‘may be no more than 50% on the first try’.
But should he succeed, he will catapult his company into the record books and significantly advance the cause of space travel.
‘It is a huge thing, gigantic, historic,’ said TV science host Bill Nye. ‘It may very well lead to everyday people having access to space.’
Faced with budget cutbacks, NASA has been forced to look outside of the government for ways to make ends meet and and has found an eager partner in Mr Musk, who has invested $100million of his own money into SpaceX.
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