The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship built by Elon Musk's space transport company SpaceX went into orbit Friday after a successful launch from the company's leased launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
However a glitch involving the capsule's thrusters was reported by Musk on Twitter shortly after launch.
"Issue with Dragon thruster pods," Musk wrote. "System inhibiting three of four [pods] from initializing. About to command inhibit override."
Each of the pods contain thrusters used to guide the Dragon into orbit, NBC's CosmicBlog reported. The report stated SpaceX indicated a preference to delay opening the Dragon's power-generating solar arrays until at least two of the four thruster pods were operational.
Later, the Dragon's solar arrays were deployed after overriding the onboard computer.
"One thruster pod is running," said Christina Ra, a SpaceX spokeswoman. "We are trying to bring up the remaining three. We did go ahead and get the solar arrays deployed. Once we get at least two pods running, we will begin a series of burns to get to station."
One commenter joked on Twitter, "I hope this doesn't run on batteries," a reference to the recent row Musk has been in with The New York Times regarding his Tesla Motor Co.'s electric Model S sedan.
The Dragon is meant to deliver cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. The three-week mission is the Dragon's third trip to the space station. Its first mission was a demonstration proving SpaceX could successfully launch a rocket, dock with the ISS and return to Earth. Its second mission began what is meant to be a run of 12 resupply missions to the station as part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, CosmicBlog reported.
Due to good "orbital geometry" the Dragon could reach the space station by Saturday morning, however the problem with the thrusters may cause some delay.
The Dragon is carrying 2,300 pounds of cargo, including experiments to study the growth of plants and mouse stem cells in zero-G. It also carries replacement parts for the station's air-recycling system and a freezer for preserving biological samples, the article stated.
It will take astronauts about three weeks to unload the Dragon, then load it back up with 3,000 pounds of cargo for return to Earth. The unmanned Dragon is due undock from the spacestation and splash down in the Pacific Ocean on March 25.
Now that NASA has retired the space shuttle, SpaceX's cargo flights are meant to fill the void. A separate company, Orbital Science Corp., has its own NASA contract to begin deliveries to the space station this year.
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