Ground Equipment Blamed for Scrub of Delta 2 Launch

The scrubbed launch of a McDonnell Douglas Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., was probably caused by an electrical problem in ground equipment rather than a defect in the rocket, Air Force officials said Friday.

The launch was automatically aborted Wednesday night less than 1 second before the scheduled liftoff. Engineers have concluded that an electrical malfunction caused a computer to automatically shut down the rocket’s main engine, said Capt. Ken Warren, an Air Force spokesman.

“We’ve done a lot of evaluation . . . and pretty much narrowed it down to the electrical ground equipment,” Warren said. “At this point, we don’t think it was the rocket.”

Another launch won’t be attempted before June 5, Warren said.

The Delta 2 is to carry a $65-million Navstar global positioning satellite into orbit for the United States and its allies. The satellite--manufactured by Rockwell International in Seal Beach--will enable military forces to pinpoint within 50 feet the location of troops or vehicles on land, at sea or in the air.

Air Force engineers and specialists from McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. in Huntington Beach have been trying to determine the precise source of the problem since Wednesday night.

Three other launch attempts on May 20, Sunday and Tuesday were scuttled because of bad weather, Warren said.

Tom Williams, a McDonnell Douglas spokesman, said Wednesday’s aborted attempt was the first time in 15 years that a Delta launch has been scrapped in the final seconds before liftoff.

Williams said the launch was scrubbed when an electrical signal from the ground equipment failed to open a valve in the rocket, preventing liquid oxygen from reaching the main engine. A computer detected the problem and automatically shut off the engine before it could ignite.