close
Thursday March 28, 2024

SpaceX postpones launch of Nasa’s planet-hunter spacecraft

By AFP
April 18, 2018

TAMPA: SpaceX postponed the launch of NASA’s new planet-hunting mission Monday in order to verify the Falcon 9 rocket’s navigation systems, the California-based company said. The next opportunity to blast off the $337 million satellite — which aims to advance the search for extraterrestrial life by scanning the skies for nearby, Earth-like planets — will be Wednesday. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is “in excellent health and remains ready for launch,” SpaceX said on Twitter. “Launch teams are standing down today to conduct additional guidance navigation and control analysis.”