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An attempt to land a rocket on a platform in the ocean as part of efforts to make it reusable has been delayed after problems were detected on the launchpad.
Private US aerospace company SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has been scheduled to launch on Friday, after the launch today was aborted because of issues with its second stage segment.
SpaceX said: "During the terminal count engineers observed drift on one of the two thrust vector actuators on the second stage that would likely have caused an automatic abort. SpaceX is scrubbed for today."
The rocket will carry its Dragon cargo spacecraft into the sky as it heads off on a supply mission to the International Space Station.
After detaching, the rocket will re-enter the atmosphere and aim for a barge floating in the Atlantic off Florida.
The custom-built platform is known officially as the "autonomous spaceport drone ship".
The company admits that the odds of success are not great - perhaps 50% at best. But it says the test is the first in a series designed to deliver a fully reusable rocket.
On its website, Space X said: "Returning anything from space is a challenge, but returning a Falcon 9 first stage for a precision landing presents a number of additional hurdles. At 14 storeys tall and travelling upwards of 1,300 m/s (nearly 1 mi/s), stabilising the Falcon 9 first stage for re-entry is like trying to balance a rubber broomstick on your hand in the middle of a wind storm.
"To complicate matters further, the landing site is limited in size and not entirely stationary. The autonomous spaceport drone ship is 300 by 100 feet (91.4m by 30.5m), with wings that extend its width to 170 feet (51.8m). While that may sound huge at first, to a Falcon 9 first stage coming from space, it seems very small.
"During previous attempts, we could only expect a landing accuracy of within 10km (6 miles). For this attempt, we're targeting a landing accuracy of within 10 metres (33ft).”
Unlike most rockets, which are designed to burn-up when they re-enter the atmosphere, SpaceX is developing a rocket able to withstand re-entry and land safely on Earth so it can be refuelled and fly again.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, said that being able to use rockets again would cut the cost of space travel. He said: "If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionise access to space."
The company has more than 12 launches planned to test the concept during the next year.