SpaceX launch is delayed again,company trying to send capsule to space station

Commercial space company SpaceX is delaying the launch of a new cargo capsule to the international space station because of software issues, officials said Wednesday.
Already three months behind its initial schedule, the launch of the company’s Dragon spacecraft had been set for next Monday, but the company and NASA are continuing to test and verify the software, said SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham. “We’re working with NASA to complete the software verification process, and we hope to announce a new launch date soon,” she said. If SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket cannot launch from Cape Canaveral by May 10, the company will have to wait at least until late in the next week to try. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is slated to lift off from Kazakhstan on May 15 with three new space station crew members, and it will need to be safely docked at the station before the Dragon can attempt to approach. The SpaceX launch is a critical moment for NASA’s new strategy of paying private companies to deliver cargo to the 16-nation orbiting outpost, which is slated to operate through at least 2020. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion NASA contract to fly 12 cargo missions to the station.