( CNN ) -- SpaceX scrapped the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket at the last minute Thursday , calling it off for the second time in three days . `` We called manual abort , '' tweeted Elon Musk , the private space program 's founder . `` Better to be paranoid and wrong . '' The rocket had been set to head skyward Monday from Florida 's Cape Canaveral before that launch was scrubbed . It did n't go off Thursday after exhibiting what Musk -- a storied entrepreneur ( thought by some to be the inspiration for Tony Stark , or Iron Man ) -- described as `` slower than expected thrust ramp . '' Falcon 9 was then brought down from the launch pad so it could be inspected . `` Likely a few days before next attempt , '' read a post on SpaceX 's website . The mission was to be the latest foray for SpaceX , a company that itself launched in 2002 `` to revolutionize space technology , with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets , '' according to its website . SpaceX so far has made two of its 12 scheduled flights to the International Space Station , beginning in spring 2012 when its Dragon capsule became the first private spacecraft to successfully reach this manned orbiter . This month 's scheduled launch was not related to the space station , however . Rather , it was to put an SES-8 -- a 7,000-pound telecommunications satellite that will focus on the South Asia and Asia Pacific regions -- into orbit 50,000 miles ( 80,000 kilometers ) above the Earth 's surface . `` SES-8 will be SpaceX 's first launch to a geostationary transfer orbit ... and most challenging mission to date , '' the company noted .
A SpaceX launch from Florida 's Cape Canaveral is aborted at the last minute . `` Better to be paranoid and wrong , '' tweets the company 's founder , Elon Musk . Its spacecraft is set to carry a telecommunications satellite , put it in orbit .