--- title: Watch NASA's Orion Launch Live description: A test of the new Orion spacecraft was postponed Thursday. canonical: https://time.com/3616560/orion-nasa-launch-livestream/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-04T11:30:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T22:34:40.000Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA's Orion Launch Postponed og:description: A test of the new Orion spacecraft was postponed Thursday. og:url: https://time.com/3616560/orion-nasa-launch-livestream/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db23fa17e05f52c/69876c92e20a875391a83c57/orion-launch-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2650 og:image:height: 1491 og:image:alt: Orion Exploration Flight Test og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA's Orion Launch Postponed twitter:description: A test of the new Orion spacecraft was postponed Thursday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db23fa17e05f52c/69876c92e20a875391a83c57/orion-launch-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Orion Launch Postponed Till Friday > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:34 PM UTCPublished: Dec 4, 2014 11:30 AM UTC  NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaits its first flight test on Dec. 4, 2014 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida. NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaits its first flight test on Dec. 4, 2014 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida.Bill Ingalls—NASA by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:34 PM UTCPublished: Dec 4, 2014 11:30 AM UTC A series of problems forced NASA to delay a planned launch of its [its new Orion spacecraft](http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/november/nasa-sets-prelaunch-activities-television-coverage-for-orion-flight-test/#.VH9vImTF9U8) on Thursday. The next launch attempt is slated for Friday at 7:05 a.m. ET. The launch, an early step in NASA’s mission to send people to Mars, was set to begin at 7:05 a.m. ET on Thursday but was delayed multiple times for a [variety of reasons](https://twitter.com/NASA), including a boat in the area and valve trouble on the core booster. Thursday’s launch window closed at 9:44 a.m. ET. The un-crewed [Orion](http://www.nasa.gov/orion/#.VIBYDWTF9fd) is intended to orbit 3,600 miles above Earth before it finally crashes into the Pacific Ocean. It will measure the effects of high radiation zones on the spacecraft, which has a heat shield to withstand massive temperatures when it speeds into the atmosphere at 20,000 mph, before finally hitting the ocean. There will be more test-runs to come for Orion, a vessel that NASA hopes will ultimately take astronauts into new places–maybe even [Mars.](http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/november/media-day-at-johnson-to-explore-nasa-s-journey-to-mars/#.VH8ovmTF9U%5F) ### A History of the Orion Spacecraft in Pictures  NASA's Orion spacecraft, atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, lifts off on its first unmanned orbital test flight from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 5, 2014, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Chris O'Meara—AP  NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaits its first flight test on Dec. 4, 2014 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida. Bill Ingalls—NASA  Team members work to secure a test version of Orion in the Pacific Ocean during a test recovery mission on Sept. 17, 2014. Kim Shiflett—NASA  An artist's illustration of the 38-story launch system with Orion on top. NASA / MSFC  A model of Orion floats above an underwater mockup of the International Space Station in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston on April 25, 2013. Bill Stafford—JSC/NASA  A version of the engine that will power Orion's launch system burns during a hot-fire test on Nov. 27, 2012 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. NASA/SSC  The NASA team at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans completed the final weld on the first space-bound Orion capsule, on June 22, 2012. NASA  Orion's launch system undergoes a hot-fire test. Aerojet Rocketdyne  The Orion capsule sits within the Vehicle Assembly Building on May 24, 2012 in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dmitri Gerondidakis—NASA  An artist's illustration of Orion's Flight Test NASA  The 16.5 ft. diameter, titanium heat shield was fabricated by Lockheed Martin in Denver for the Orion spacecraft. The shield will have to withstand temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Patrick H. Corkery—Lockheed Martin  A test model of the Orion spacecraft was dropped high above the the Arizona desert on Feb. 29, 2012. NASA  Ground teams in White Sands, New Mexico, practice an abort test on Sept. 24, 2009. 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