Commercial spaceflight company SpaceX and NASA have set April 18 as the next attempted launch date of California company's Falcon 9 booster and Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station, the space agency announced.
If the launch, set for 3:25 p.m. EDT, is successful, the cargo craft will arrive at the ISS on April 20, to be gathered in by the station's grapple for berthing, NASA says.
A previous attempt on April 14 was called off just an hour before the scheduled liftoff time to due equipment glitches.
The upcoming launch attempt could face problems with the weather, as U.S. Air Force weather forecasters are calling for a 60 percent possibility of thunderstorms and showers.
Meanwhile, future SpaceX launches will take place in a launch pad considered one of NASA's most historic, known as Launch Complex 39A, where astronauts aboard Apollo II were sent on their way to the moon in June 1969 for the first landing of men on the lunar surface.
NASA has entered an agreement with SpaceX for the commercial spaceflight firm to take over operation at the launch complex.
SpaceX, headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk, will manage the historic pad for launches of its spacecraft and rockets into earth orbit.
"It's exciting that this storied NASA launch pad is opening a new chapter for space exploration and the commercial aerospace industry," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
SpaceX, under its agreement with the space agency, will foot the bill for maintaining and operating the launching facility during a 20-year lease.
"As the world's fastest-growing launch services provider, SpaceX will maximize the use of pad 39A both to the benefit of the commercial launch industry as well as the American taxpayer," said Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX.
"We'll make great use of this pad, I promise."
The agreement comes as part of NASA's effort to repurpose the Kennedy Space Center as a launch complex for the 21st century to support both commercial and government users.
NASA says it will use the historic pad's twin, Pad 39B, for its future missions involving its Orion astronaut capsule and Space Launch System rockets.
"Kennedy Space Center is excited to welcome SpaceX to our growing list of partners," Center Director Bob Cabana said. "As we continue to reconfigure and repurpose these tremendous facilities, it is gratifying to see our plan for a multiuser spaceport shared by government and commercial partners coming to fruition."
