: The unmanned Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9 rocket is seen before liftoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida November 28, 2013.
A rocket scheduled to carry a communications satellite into space this week has been grounded by technical problems yet again.
The privately-owned rocket was due to launch on Thanksgiving day and send a 7,000-pound satellite into orbit. However, problems with the device’s “thrust ramp” kept the unit firmly on the earth’s surface at Florida’s Cape Canaveral.
According to the website of SpaceX, owned by famed American business magnate and PalPal founder Elon Musk, experts are currently taking a closer look at the rocket and it will likely be “a few days before [the] next attempt.”
If and when SpaceX’s rocket is launched, the accompanying satellite will be used “in conjunction with other communications systems to increase bandwidth capacity in Asia and provide expansion of services such as maritime communications and distance-learning program,” according to a report in the Associated Press.
[CNN]