Crew-11 prelaunch test to the International Space Station aborted

An error on an instrument on the launch pad has interrupted the ignition tests of the Falcon 9 rocket that on July 31 should carry the Crew-11 crew , composed of two NASA astronauts, one from the Japanese Jaxa and a Russian cosmonaut from Roscosmos , into orbit towards the International Space Station for a mission in orbit of at least 6 months.

The problem is believed to have been caused by an indicator on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which malfunctioned a few seconds before the ignition of the Falcon 9's nine Merlin engines during routine pre-launch testing. Shortly beforehand, the four crew members—mission commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke, orbiting for the fourth time, Russian pilot Oleg Platonov, and mission specialist Kimiya Yui, on her second visit to the ISS—had boarded the Dragon spacecraft for further testing.

Shortly thereafter, the static firing test began, igniting the engines for a few seconds with the rocket docked to the platform. "The test automatically aborted 57 seconds before firing due to an error in the position indicator for a retractable arm," NASA said in a statement.

“ Falcon 9 and Dragon remain in good condition on the launch pad ahead of the scheduled launch on Thursday, July 31, pending the new static ignition test and the new launch verification procedure .” The tests should be repeated today and the aim is to maintain the scheduled launch date , July 31, for the start of the Crew-11 mission, which should carry the 4 astronauts on the ISS for at least 6 months, but the return date could be postponed and the mission could be extended to approximately 8 months.