December 19, 2005
Falcon 1 launch off until 2006
FLORIDA TODAY STAFF REPORT ADVERTISEMENT
Rocket startup SpaceX had to call off its attempted launch of the Falcon 1 today because of a structural issue with the vehicle.
Not long after the window opened at the launch site - an atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean - SpaceX called off the flight.
The launch is off until sometime in early 2006.
The Falcon 1 is aiming to become a low-cost alternative to rockets in the class of Boeing's Delta 2.
Ultimately, the company hopes to develop larger rockets and to use a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Florida.
You can get the latest on the cause of the scrub later this afternoon at our new space blog, The Flame Trench, at the following link:
www.floridatoday.com/floridatoday/blogs/spaceteam/
TacSat-1 spacecraft (scheduled for SpaceX's second launch)
Rocket company SpaceX, notorious for repeatedly pre-announcing its first flight on Wikinews, cancels its latest attempt and defers further flights until 2006.

This latest launch attempt on the 19th December was cancelled due to structural issues with the first-stage fuel tank of the Falcon 1 rocket. An electrical fault caused a valve to shut inappropriately, and as fuel drained out a vacuum was created causing the side of the fuel tank to buckle inwards.