The OSPSLV rocket during pathfinder exercises earlier this year at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo: Spaceport Systems International

A converted U.S. Air Force Minuteman 2 missile slated to launch a cluster of research satellites into space remains grounded due to an electronics problem.

The so-called Orbital Suborbital Program Space Launch Vehicle has missed several launch dates in recent months, and had been scheduled for liftoff Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

But during routine pre-flight testing last week an electrical component on the rocket malfunctioned, the U.S. Air Force said. No futher details were immediately released.

A new launch date is pending.

The OSPSLV rocket, also called Minotaur, features the first and second stages of a Minuteman 2 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Minotaur's third and fourth stages are from Orbital Sciences' air-launched Pegasus rocket.

Once launched, the combination rocket will prove its capability to place satellites into space by using leftover Minuteman 2 missile stages. There are currently 350 Minuteman 2 missiles in storage, the U.S. Air Force says.

Aboard the first orbital flight of OSPSLV will be the Joint Air Force Academy Weber State University, or JAWSAT, multi-payload adapter.

The four payloads riding on JAWSAT are the U.S. Air Force Academy's FalconSat, Arizona State University's ASUSAT, Stanford University's OPAL satellite and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Optical Calibration Sphere Experiment. The craft will be released into space from JAWSAT.

JAWSAT will also carry two experiments that will remain attached. They are the Plasma Experiment Satellite sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Weber State University's Attitude Controlled Platform.