Weather postpones SpaceX's first astronaut launch from Florida

The SpaceX Crew Dragon, attached to a Falcon 9 booster rocket, stands beneath storm clouds on Pad39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Stormy weather thwarted a landmark moment for private rocket company SpaceX and NASA on Wednesday, forcing launch directors in Florida to postpone what would have been the first flight of U.S. astronauts into orbit from American soil in nine years.

The countdown, made especially suspenseful by shifting weather conditions, was halted just 16 minutes and 54 seconds before the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had been due to launch astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a 19-hour ride to the International Space Station.