Article Posted on : - Oct 20, 2009

The Ares I-X rocket. Image credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL (BNS): NASA has postponed the launch of its space shuttle Atlantis by four days to provide more “breathing room” for the test flight of its new rocket Ares I-X.

Atlantis was earlier scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre here on November 12. Now, it will be launched on November 16, the US space agency said on Monday.

The delay will make it easier to get the experimental Ares rocket flying from the same space centre on October 27, it said.

Meanwhile, preparations were on to move the Ares I-X to its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre on Tuesday morning. The rocket’s rollout was previously set for Monday.

The unmanned and without payloads Ares rocket will consist of ‘mock-up hardware’ when it takes flight next week.

This first flight test for the space agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system will bring NASA one step closer to its exploration goals – to return to the moon for more ambitious exploration of the lunar surface and to travel to Mars and destinations beyond.