https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/mykm9SFWD.QzFn1mDrmDbQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_independent_635/66e430b6e2eb96f1726551929d27cf3a — Workers freshen up the paint on the NASA logo on the Vehicle Assembly Building before the arrival of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley at the Kennedy Space Center on May 20, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Nasa SpaceX launch - as it happened: Historic liftoff cancelled moments before takeoff over weather

27 May 2020, 12:02 by Andrew Griffin

Nasa has postponed its first launch of astronauts from US soil in nine years due to bad weather, just minutes before lift-off.

Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were due to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on a rocket and capsule system built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's firm SpaceX.

But with rain and thunderstorms looming, the launch date has now been moved to Saturday at 20:22 pm UK time.

An estimated 1.7 million people from around the world tuned in to the launch from The Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

However, as the weather conditions became worse, the US space agency "scrubbed" the mission for safety reasons less than 17 minutes before the Falcon 9 rocket was due to take off, along with the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

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