At the last second, the launch of Falcon 9 with Dragon - the first private spacecraft to the space station - was canceled

SpaceX's attempt to launch the Falcon 9 rocket was canceled by the computer just as the count reached zero, due to a high pressure reading in engine #5 of the first stage

SpaceX's attempt to launch the Falcon 9 rocket was canceled by the computer just as the count reached zero, due to a high pressure reading in engine #5 of the first stage. All nine engines of the missile were ignited but they were automatically shut down before launch. No other problems were recorded with the launcher as of 10:44 am Israel time.

The computer monitors the state of all missile components at launch, another safety feature installed on the Falcon 9, so the good part of aborting the mission is the knowledge that all systems worked as planned to prevent a launch that did not meet the design conditions. Since this is a test flight, the SpaceX team is thinking of this as a successful launch abort as opposed to a launch failure.

"I've watched and participated in more shuttle aborts than I'd like, but that's part of the launch business," says Michael Lopez-Alguera, president of the Commercial Space Federation. "I was very impressed by the professionalism shown by the SpaceX team in the moments after the launch was stopped to save the vehicle. Now we will have to wait for the analysis of the causes of the high pressure in one of the engines and the decision of SpaceX and NASA when the relaunch will be carried out. This is not the result we expected, but it is better to deal with the problem while the launcher is on the launch pad than during the flight." Lopez-Algueira said.

When launched, the Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket will be the first commercial spacecraft to arrive at the space station, this time to deliver equipment.

In the meantime, the media is waiting for the announcement from SpaceX and NASA, who are planning a press conference later today.

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