Free Republic

The rocket was set to blast off from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. government spy satellite at 11:54 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0354 GMT Thursday), but the countdown stopped at T-minus 7 seconds. ULA said the automated countdown sequencer controlling the rocket in the final moments before liftoff detected an “unexpected condition prior to the engine start sequence.” “The team is currently reviewing all data and will determine the path forward,” ULA said in a statement It was the second abort for the Delta 4-Heavy rocket in the final 10 seconds of a countdown. A launch attempt Aug. 29 was halted...

United Launch Alliance early Thursday delayed the launch of a triple-core Delta 4-Heavy rocket — the largest launcher in the company’s fleet — until Saturday to allow engineers more time to resolve an issue with a ground pneumatics control system. The launch company planned to fire the Delta 4-Heavy rocket into space at 2:12 a.m. EDT (0612 GMT) Thursday from Cape Canaveral with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. But the ULA launch team halted the countdown to give technicians time to troubleshoot an issue with a nose cone heater. Ground crews...