The European Space Agency has cancelled its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission at the last minute.
Scientists said the risk of lightning meant the weather conditions were not right for launch
The Ariane 5 rocket was scheduled to lift off from the ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana at 13:15 BST (09:15 local time)
The team will attempt to launch it again tomorrow – if successful the satellite will take eight years to reach its final destination
It will use a gravitational sling-shot technique around Earth and Venus to give it enough energy to reach Jupiter
The £1.4bn (€1.6bn) probe could tell us whether Jupiter’s major moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – have the conditions to support simple life