SpaceX Postpones Launch to Space Station Until Friday

By Alan Boyle

SpaceX says it has scrubbed Monday's scheduled launch of a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station, due to a helium leak on the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage.

Word of the postponement came a little more than an hour before the Falcon 9 was to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA reported that the next opportunity for launch would come at 3:25 p.m. ET Friday.

"A fix will be implemented by the next launch opportunity ... though weather on that date isn't ideal," SpaceX said in a status update.

NASA

Photographers focus on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as it sits on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

First published April 14 2014, 1:09 PM

Alan Boyle

Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com.

Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Boyle is the author of "The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference." He lives in Bellevue, Wash.

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