BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA scrubbed the launch of a rocket that was going to take off in mid-air off Florida's coast early Wednesday morning because of a glitch.
- Next attempt at launch set for Thursday
- Get space coverage here
The L-1011 Stargazer had already taken off when an issue was detected, just before 3 a.m.
When it does launch, it will be done by an airplane, which will deploy the Pegasus XL rocket from its belly, 40,000 feet above the ocean, about a hundred miles off Daytona Beach's coast.
Below is a video of a previous launch.
.@NASA scrubbed the launch of a rocket that was going to take off in mid-air off Florida's coast early Wednesday morning because of a glitch. Find out when the next launch attempt is. https://t.co/fchO8JzDwT pic.twitter.com/QJ4pNacXh5
— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) November 7, 2018
NASA says irregular data from the rocket caused the scrub.
Today’s launch attempt of our #NASAICON mission is postponed due to off-nominal data observed on the #PegasusXL rocket during the captive carry flight. The team will investigate the issue & evaluate the next launch attempt. For updates, visit https://t.co/uKTQkywHZF pic.twitter.com/nE05PKzNGT
— NASA (@NASA) November 7, 2018
The next launch attempt is Thursday.
The rocket is carrying a NASA satellite designed to study Earth's upper atmosphere, the ionosphere.