When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. SpaceX's plans to launch four small communications satellites to a high Earth orbit were called off as the countdown reached T-0 seconds on Saturday (Dec. 21). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying four "MicroGEO" satellites built by San Francisco company Astranis had been scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at midnight EST (0500 GMT). An unspecified issue forced an abort just as the Falcon's Merlin engines were igniting. "Standing down from tonight’s Falcon 9 launch," SpaceX stated in an update posted on the X social media network. The company at first said that it was targeting Sunday morning for the next launch opportunity, but after further inspecting the Falcon 9 and reviewing the scrub data stood down from that try. A new target launch date has yet to be announced. "Scrubs happen!" wrote Christian Keil, Astranis' vice president, on X. "We've seen worse and will try again soon." You may like SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on brand-new Falcon 9 rocket after abort (video, photos)