spacetoday.net: SpaceX reschedules Dragon launch for May 19

Posted: Sun, May 6, 2012, 10:53 AM ET (1453 GMT)
Falcon 9 hot fire test on 2012 Apr 30 (SpaceX)

SpaceX announced late Friday it had rescheduled its Dragon test flight to the International Space Station for May 19 as it completes software testing on the cargo vehicle. The Falcon 9 carrying the Dragon on the "C2+" mission, part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, is now slated for launch at 4:55 am EDT (0855 GMT) May 19, with a backup date of May 22. SpaceX has had t o push back the launch from April 30 to May 7, and then again from May 7, in order to complete tests of the software used by the Dragon spacecraft to ensure it can safely approach and berth with the ISS. Should the Dragon successfully complete those tests SpaceX could begin regular cargo flights to the station later this year.