A rogue aircraft canceled the launch of an Orbital ATK Antares rocket bound for the International Space Station on Saturday.
The rocket, which was carrying a Cygnus cargo ship, was seconds from launching when a flight controller suddenly halted operations at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Va., CBS News reports. “LC, LC, we are red,” he said, according to CBS. “We have an aircraft in the hazard area.” The launch conductor then aborted the mission.
We were working no issues until an aircraft flew into restricted airspace. We are currently de-tanking and will be ready to go tomorrow morning
— Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) November 11, 2017
We have confirmed that the aircraft that aborted today's launch attempt was a small aircraft flying at about 500ft approximately 6 miles offshore.
— Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) November 11, 2017
Orbital ATK tweeted after the attempt that the launch was canceled due to a small aircraft flying at 500 feet, roughy six miles off shore. It’s not specified whether the aircraft was commercial or private.
Despite the last-second cancellation, however, “#Cygnus spacecraft remains healthy and ready for tomorrow’s 7:14 a.m. EST launch,” Orbital ATK tweeted.
