NASA scrubbed the launch of the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites from the Vandenberg air base in California, US, on Friday, citing a communications failure.
The decision to abort was made a just few minutes from the start of the launch window, which opened at 0303 PDT.
"Today's attempt to launch the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites has been scrubbed due to loss of vital communications between the CALIPSO spacecraft and a monitoring link in France," said NASA in a statement. CALIPSO was developed by collaboration between NASA and the French space agency, CNES.
"The launch manager has directed his team to reset the launch systems and prepare for another opportunity to launch the mission tomorrow," said the statement. The launch window on Saturday begins 1 minute earlier.
CloudSat and CALIPSO will probe the Earth's atmosphere with instruments that will provide a new, 3D perspective on clouds and airborne particles, called aerosols. Their findings will reveal how these factors affect water supply, climate, weather and air quality around the world. See our preview of the mission, here.
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