A Tale of Two Launches

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While space shuttle Endeavour’s launch on Monday was scrubbed –again — due to weather, another launch took place later, which successfully launched the first commercial payload on board a rocket built by a commercial space company. SpaceX launched their Falcon 1 rocket from Omelek Island at Kwajalein Atoll to put a Malaysian RazakSAT satellite in a near equatorial orbit. SpaceX was able to overcome troubles with a helium system as well as bad weather, both of which caused delays. But eventually, the Falcon 1 launched flawlessly.

This was the second successful launch in five tries for the Falcon 1 rocket. Later this year. SpaceX hopes to launch its larger Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, thunderstorms near the Kennedy Space Center forced a scrub for Endeavour and her crew. It was the fifth delay for the STS-127 mission, going back to a hydrogen leak which delayed the launch in June.

NASA has decided to pass up a Tuesday launch opportunity, and try for a sixth launch attempt Wednesday July 15 at 6:03:10 p.m. EDT. The weather looks like it has a better chance of allowing a launch (60 percent chance of good weather as opposed to a 40 percent chance on Tuesday), plus the extra day will give .
engineers a chance to repair a rocket thruster rain cover came loose.

Delaying the shuttle launch may mean rescheduling when a Progress resupply ship can dock to the space station. If it launches as scheduled on July 24, it needs to dock by July 29.