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SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch again due to strong winds

Xinhua, February 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

After two delays, private U.S. firm SpaceX postponed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with the Deep Space Climate Observatory again on Tuesday because of high upper-level winds.

The rocket was geared up to send SpaceX's first deep space mission, Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), into orbit Tuesday evening from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

But mission control called off about 12 minutes before a planned 6:05 p.m. EST (2305 GMT) liftoff because the upper-level winds were judged to be too high for the rocket to handle.

The scheduled launch was the second to be scrubbed in two days. Last-minute radar trouble on Sunday foiled SpaceX's first attempt and another attempt was scrubbed on Monday because of bad weather.

After Tuesday's scrub, the next launch attempt for the DSCOVR mission is Wednesday evening. The company plans to try again to land its reusable rocket on an unmanned ship, the second attempt in two months.

Tuesday was a busy day for SpaceX. The company's cargo spacecraft Dragon was released from the International Space Station's robotic arm at 2:10 p.m. EST (1910 GMT) and was headed home. Dragon was scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 259 miles (about 417 km) southwest of Long Beach, California, at about 7:44 p.m. EST (0044 GMT). Endi