U.S. Rocket Flight Delayed by Electrical Fault

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M.—The launch of a commercial rocket in New Mexico that the organizers hope will usher in a new era of cheap public access to space was delayed Monday because of an electrical problem.

UP Aerospace had planned to launch the SpaceLoft XL rocket from Spaceport America, a remote desert launch site near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, soon after dawn Monday.

Flight engineers traced a faulty electrical connection to a transponder—a device that allows them to track the rocket after it leaves the launch pad—and set back the launch.

"They have isolated the problem, and they expect to be able to repair it and go ahead with the launch later today," UP Aerospace executive Bill Heiden told Reuters.

The telephone pole-sized rocket is set to carry some 50 items of pay load—including a Ziploc bag of Cheerios, some cremated remains and several high school science projects—on a brief suborbital flight 70 miles above Earth.

The Connecticut-based company aims to become the first offering public access to space at accessible prices, with payloads priced from a few hundred dollars for small items weighing a few grams.

The rocket is not the first privately funded bid to reach for the stars. Two years ago, SpaceShipOne brushed the edge of space with a man on board, scooping up a $10 million prize for its backers.

UP Aerospace has nine flights booked over the next 12 months, hurtling payloads of up to 110 pounds up to the edge of space on a solid-fuel rocket that reaches speeds of 3,500 mph )—five times the speed of sound.