Firefly will have to wait for another day.
The company planned to send its Alpha rocket to space on a test flight early Friday morning.
At 3:51 a.m., the Reaver engines lit up. They shut down almost immediately, and the rocket was still standing on the pad. It wasn't clear what happened.
The vehicle stopped after it started. It's designed to make the system safe. The team scrubbed tonight's launch attempt and is looking at data to figure out their next window.
A rocket engine is used to light candles.
Today's mission is called "Alpha Flight 2 To The Black." The first attempt for Alpha ended in failure after one of the Reavers shut down too early.
Alpha will attempt to deploy a few small satellites on the test flight, though it isn't carrying a dummy. More about them can be found in our launch preview story.
The attempt to launch "To The Black" was scrubbed after a drop in pressure in the leadup to the liftoff. Today's try was pushed because of unfavorable weather forecasts.
Firefly wants to get a large portion of the small-satellite launch market. According to Firefly's Alpha user's guide, the rocket can carry 2,580 pounds (1,170 kilograms) of cargo on each launch. Each mission costs the company fifteen million dollars.
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