NASA delays Rocket Lab launch in Virginia until Tuesday

Jan. 23 (UPI) -- NASA on Monday scrubbed the Rocket Lab's launch of its Electron rocket from Virginia because of poor weather conditions, moving the possible liftoff to Tuesday.

The 59-foot-tall rocket was set to blast off from the Wallop Flight Facility at 6 p.m. EST on Monday but NASA opted to wait for more favorable weather conditions. The space agency said Tuesday provided a 90% favorability rating for liftoff.

"Weather conditions have deteriorated at Wallops with rain and strong winds at LC-2, so we're now targeting Tuesday, Jan 24, for our first Electron mission from Virginia," Rocket Lab said in a Twitter post Monday morning.

The launch window for Tuesday's flight will be from 6-8 p.m. EST, NASA officials said in a statement.

"With this mission, NASA is helping foster a growing low-Earth space economy and continues Wallop's 35-year history of support to the commercial launch industry," the statement said. "The launch may be visible, weather permitting, to residents throughout much of the east coast of the United States."

The rocket will eventually lift three Hawkeye 360 satellites into space. Hawkeye 360 is a radio frequency data analytics company operating a commercial satellite constellation to identify, process and geolocate RF signals.