SpaceX Scrub Launch Of Observatory, Landing Test Until Tuesday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A deep-space observatory has to wait yet another day before flying.

SpaceX called off Sunday’s launch attempt because of trouble with rocket-tracking radar. The company targeted Monday, but decided to wait until Tuesday for better weather.

That gives SpaceX time to replace a video transmitter on the first-stage booster of the Falcon 9 rocket. Following liftoff, the leftover booster is supposed to flip around and aim for a platform floating off Florida’s coast. The landing test has been tried once before, without success.

Former Vice President Al Gore was at Cape Canaveral for Sunday’s try. He came up with the idea for a spacecraft that constantly observes Earth in the 1990s, but the program was canceled and the satellite shelved. The Deep Space Climate Observatory is a refurbished version.