SpaceX Delays Its First Manned Flight to ISS Until 2018

The decision comes after the Falcon 9 rocket exploded and destroyed its launchpad and satellite

Billionaire Elon Musk has hit another setback this year. His company SpaceX has postponed its first manned flight to the International Space Station until 2018, NASA announced on Monday.

SpaceX hopes to return to flight in January, NBC News reported. That's just four months after a rocket explosion damaged its launchpad and destroyed the satellite it had been set to carry into orbit.

The company will first have to wrap an investigation into what went wrong on Sept. 1.

The months following the Falcon 9 explosion have brought many questions and few answers as investigators seek to determine the cause. The wait was too much for one SpaceX customer, Inmarsat, which opted last week to take its business to a European competitor, Arianespace.

Contact Us