Forecast poor for SpaceX's Friday launch attempt

Clouds, thunderstorms and lightning anticipated Friday evening could make it difficult for SpaceX to launch a group of commercial satellites from Cape Canaveral.

Air Force meteorologists predict only a 30 percent chance of conditions good enough for a Falcon 9 rocket to blast off with six Orbcomm Inc. satellites during a launch window running from 6:08 p.m. to 7:01 p.m.

The 45th Weather Squadron said models were not all in agreement about the strength and track of a low pressure system moving through Central Florida.

"Overall though, expect mainly showery weather with an isolated thunderstorm from Friday morning through Saturday as the low moves through the area," the forecast reads.

The odds of favorable launch weather improve slightly on Saturday, to 40 percent "go."

The mission is the first of two launching a new constellation of 17 next-generation satellites for Orbcomm, a provider of machine-to-machine communications services.

Range, rocket and satellite issues have delayed the launch since April.