Launch of SpaceX aborted for third time

CAPE CANAVERAL — The third try for a SpaceX launch aborted again just before liftoff Sunday.

The third try at a SpaceX launch for a communications satellite was set for 6:47 p.m Sunday at Cape Canaveral.

The launch held on the pad briefly at one point because a boat got in the way, but that problem cleared just before the launch restarted and then the abort signal was given.

SpaceX tweeted Sunday that the launch was on but the company was monitoring high-level winds.

On ground level, however, there was only a light breeze, with wind speed readings at 8 mph.

Launches for the same rocket and satellite were scrubbed on Wednesday and Thursday for unannounced reasons.

Thursday’s countdown was aborted at 6:45 p.m., two minutes before liftoff, according to SpaceX’s online webcast.

The launch is also supposed to feature another attempt at landing the reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a barge.

During a countdown halt, sometimes there is no more time to reload propellant again, which is what SpaceX personnel said on a webcast about Thursday’s launch.

The commercial space company said Wednesday’s scrub was “out of an abundance of caution,” but that the Falcon 9 rocket “remains healthy.”

The launch will be SpaceX’s first this year from Florida’s Space Coast.

The rocket is to carry a satellite for Luxembourg-based SES into orbit that will help telecommunications and broadcasts in Asia.

The company will also attempt to land the rocket after it delivers its payload on an ocean barge for the first time, a move some say will help the company as it progresses toward a mission to Mars.

Industry experts said the landing would cut costs for the company, resulting in a smaller financial threshold for launching payloads into space.

SES has more than 50 satellites already in orbit and the launch of SES-9 will expand its capacity, company officials said.

Experts had said the variables of a barge landing, including precise location and speed of descent, made it much tougher than doing so on land, which the company has already done.