SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon Test Flight (December 8, 2010)

SpaceX kept an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket on the ground Thursday after running into a problem loading super-cold liquid propellants into the launcher’s fuel tanks, postponing blastoff of a commercial communications satellite for the second day in a row.

Data from the Jan. 19 in-flight launch escape demonstration of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft indicate the performance of the capsule’s SuperDraco abort engines was “flawless” as the thrusters boosted the ship away from the top of a Falcon 9 rocket with a peak acceleration of about 3.3Gs, officials said Thursday.

The pre-launch news conference for the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission, scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (Membership required.)