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SpaceX: Private launch to space station now delayed indefinitely

The first instance of a private company sending a craft to the International Space Station has been put off, and it has not yet been rescheduled.

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AFP PHOTO/Bruce Weaver
In this file photo, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX was supposed to launch a supply ship destined for the space station next week, but that mission has been delayed.

| CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

The first commercial cargo run to the International Space Station is off for next week.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, announced the latest delay Wednesday. The company did not set a new launch date.

A Falcon rocket carrying a Dragon capsule was supposed to blast off from Cape Canaveral on Monday. But additional software testing was ordered. The test flight is already three months late.

It will be the first time a private entity launches a supply ship to the space station. Only governments currently do that. NASA used to stockpile the space station through the shuttles. But the fleet was retired last summer. The space agency wants commercial providers to take over that role.

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