SpaceX In the company’s second launch of the day, a special cargo spacecraft was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) today (August 4). Falcon 9 with a cargo ship Swan It launched today at 11:02 a.m. ET (15:02 GMT) from the Space Force Station at Cape Canaveral in Florida, following a one-day delay caused by bad weather.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s first stage landed as planned at Cape Canaveral. Then, less than 15 minutes after liftoff, Cygnus deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage toward low Earth orbit.

But soon Cygnus ran into some problems.

“Shortly after launch, the spacecraft missed its first blastoff, scheduled for 11:44. [EDT]“Due to the late entry into the flare sequence,” NASA officials wrote in a post-launch message this afternoon, “this attack, known as target altitude burn, or TB1, has been rescheduled for 12:34 p.m. [EDT]”However, the maneuver was aborted shortly after the engine ignited due to slightly low starting pressure. There is currently no indication that there is any problem with the engine itself.”

The pre-launch plan called for Cygnus to arrive at the ISS just after 3 a.m. (07:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Aug. 6. It was still a target despite the engine issues, NASA officials wrote in an updated message.

The current cargo mission is called NG-21 because it is Cygnus’ 21st cargo flight to the ISS.

The Cygnus spacecraft that flew as part of the NG-21 mission was named SS Richard “Dick” Scobee in memory of the NASA astronaut who commanded the ill-fated STS-51-L space shuttle Challenger mission. Scobie and six crew members were killed when the Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986.

NG-21 carries about 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of cargo, including scientific equipment. Experiments include Rotifer-B2, which will study the effects of spaceflight on DNA repair in the rotifer Adineta vaga, and MVP Cell-07, which will investigate how bioprinted or engineered liver tissue behaves in microgravity.

Two small cubesats will also reach the ISS via NG-21 as part of NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Nanosatellite Launch) program. The pair will deploy from the ISS after Cygnus arrives at the station.

The SS Richard “Dick” Scobee is expected to remain moored to the ISS until January 2025, when it departs to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The NG-21 launch was the second of SpaceX’s twin rockets: At dawn today, the Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched 23 Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:10 a.m. ET on August 3 with news of the launch delay and a new launch date of August 4, and then updated at 11:30 a.m. ET on August 4 with news of a new launch. Successful launch, rocket landing, and spacecraft deployment. The site was updated again at 8:28 p.m. on August 4 with news of issues with the Cygnus rocket engines.