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SpaceX delays first private flight to space station

Jan 17, 2012, 20:04 GMT

Los Angeles - SpaceX has delayed what would have been the first private flight to the International Space Station, saying that more engineering work was needed before it could launch the historic mission. 'We believe that there are a few areas that will benefit from additional work and will optimize the safety and success of this mission,' SpaceX Communications Director Kirstin Brost Grantham said Tuesday in an emailed statement to dpa. 'We are now working with NASA to establish a new target launch date, but note that we will continue to test and review data. We will launch when the vehicle is ready.' The company, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies, had planned to launch the Dragon capsule aboard its Falcon 9 rocket on February 7 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission was to have been a trial run for the company's 1.6 billion dollar contract with NASA for 12 flights to supply the ISS, filling a vital role as the station's only US supplier in the aftermath of the retirement of the space shuttle program last year.

Science News

SpaceX delays first private flight to space station

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