Paypal millionaire’s rocket launch aborted at last second, test flight was tryout for NASA

Millionaire’s rocket launch aborted at last second

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A multimillionaire’s rocket came within seconds of launching before the test flight was aborted at Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX — or Space Exploration Technologies — may try again later Friday afternoon to launch the rocket on its maiden voyage. With only a few seconds to go before launch, the Falcon 9 rocket apparently shut down.

The Falcon 9 is carrying a mock-up of the company’s spacecraft, named Dragon. The goal of the test flight is to put the capsule into orbit.

NASA hopes to use the Falcon-Dragon combo for hauling cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station, once the shuttles stop flying.

SpaceX’s founder is Elon Musk, who co-founded PayPal.

Online:

SpaceX: www.spacex.com/