SpaceX scrubs launch of Falcon 9 Block 5; pushed to Friday

The planned Thursday launch of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral was scrubbed with one minute before lift-off.

SpaceX already already bumped a 4:12 p.m. launch time to 5:47 p.m. 

In a tweet late Thursday afternoon, SpaceX said, "Standing down today due to a standard ground system auto abort at T-1 min. Rocket and payload are in good health—teams are working towards tomorrow’s backup launch opportunity at 4:14 p.m. EDT, or 20:14 UTC."

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk says the improved boosters can be reused more than 10 times each and require little or no work between launches. His goal is to eventually launch the same booster twice within 24 hours, drastically reducing costs. 
 

 

It will be the first mission for the upgraded rocket. It is set to carry a satellite into space for Bangladesh.

SpaceX hoped to launch it Monday, but engineers were still reviewing data from Friday's test.