SpaceX to attempt cargo launch, upper-stage experiment for second time

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  The Falcon 1 rocket was ready to go Wednesday, but weather conditions were not. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann for Ars ]

At Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning, the countdown clock is again ticking toward a launch of the Falcon 9 rocket.

On Wednesday, poor weather scrubbed the first attempt to launch the cargo mission to the International Space Station. Winds in the upper level of the atmosphere were above the acceptable level for a safe launch, and seas near the drone ship stationed offshore, Of Course I Still Love You, were too rough to ensure the rocket's first stage could make a stable landing.

And so SpaceX reset the launch to its backup date of Thursday, at 12:29pm ET (17:29pm UTC). Weather conditions along the Florida coast are more sedate as of Thursday morning, but meteorologists will still need to send up a weather balloon to provide in-situ data about conditions in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere.

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