LAST-MINUTE TECHNICAL trouble has forced SpaceX to call off an attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for Nasa.

The countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until lift-off at 6.45am Irish time.

It meant there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved the engine ignition system, at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida

SpaceX did not immediately say when it would try again. The next attempt could come as early as tomorrow, although poor weather is forecast.

Standing down from tonight's launch of Crew-6 due to a TEA-TEB ground system issue. Both Crew-6 and the vehicles are healthy and propellant offload has begun ahead of the crew disembarking Dragon

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 27, 2023

Strapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket were two Nasa astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.

When informed by SpaceX that the fuel would start to be drained from the rocket, commander Stephen Bowen replied: “We’ll be sitting here waiting.”

The measure was expected to take nearly an hour.

Commander Bowen and his crew – including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a months-long mission, Sultan al-Neyadi – will replace another SpaceX crew that flew to the space station in October.