NASA launch held as aircraft goes missing

The launch was delayed because the refuelling aircraft required to maintain the radar tracking plane wasn't available.

The launch of a pair of NASA satellites designed to give scientists their first three-dimensional view of clouds was delayed as a refuelling plane had gone missing.

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A Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the CloudSat and Calipso satellites was expected to launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California shortly after 1100 GMT on Sunday.

The launch was delayed because the refuelling aircraft required to maintain the radar tracking plane wasn't available.

Mission managers were trying to determine the next launch opportunity.

An earlier launch attempt was scrubbed on Friday after communication signals were lost between mission control in Vandenberg and a command centre in France.