Nasa's SpaceX Crew-6 Mission: Launch cancelled minutes before lift-off

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in FloridaImage source, NASA/Joel Kowsky
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The rocket launch was set to take a crew to the International Space Station

A space launch was cancelled in the US just minutes before it was due to lift-off.

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-6 mission was set to take a crew from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station.

Nasa officially "scrubbed" the launch with just just over two minutes to go until lift-off due to a ground issue which experts said was a problem with the rocket fuel needed for launch.

Scrubbing is when the team managing the rocket launch calls it off on a specific day.

Image source, @NASA/Tiwtter
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The crew were already on board and ready for blast off

The Crew-6 mission was going to take four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), to carry out science experiments and help maintain the station.

They were going to spend up to six months aboard before returning back to Earth.

Human spaceflight is a risky endeavour and, as always, we will fly when we are ready.

Bill Nelson , NASA Administrator
Image source, NASA
Image caption,

The team was two US astronauts, along with a Russian and an astronaut from the UAE.

The plan was for the crew to travel in a Crew Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, which would have gone around 17,500 mph.

Nasa said they are always cautious when it comes to space missions and Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said: "I'm proud of the Nasa and SpaceX teams' focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe."

Nasa says it will reschedule for 2 March and will release more information soon.