Reports from all over the web are now putting the SpaceX (News - Alert) COTS 2/3 space station supply demo flight at March 20 – with a much more likely slip into April. There are a variety of factors contributing to the later date, including more hardware testing and crowded skies around the International Space Station (ISS) with other vehicles in transit.

The most detailed story describing the hurdles for SpaceX's ISS commercial cargo demonstration flight has been posted by William Harwood at CBS News.  NASA and SpaceX are working together to resolve issues with the planned rendezvous profile to guide Dragon to ISS, with NASA providing personnel to aid in cleaning up the matter. In addition, the software people are spending extra time on mission assurance testing.

When the ground issues have been resolved, there's the matter of shuffling spacecraft at the space station. It's a busy place in March. Three of the ISS's six crew members are scheduled to return to earth on March 16. Arianespace (News - Alert) is slotted to launch Europe's third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) on March 9 with an anticipated docking date of March 19.  

The Edoardo Amaldi will deliver around 3960 kilograms of dry cargo, water, gas and propellant to the space station as a part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) contribution to ISS. A new three-man crew is scheduled to arrive on March 31 via a Russian Soyuz capsule, bringing staffing back up to a six-man crew.

Against the backdrop of shuffling spacecraft, SpaceX also needs to secure a launch slot with the Air Force to conduct its flight from Cape Canaveral, a non-trivial task with the other launch activities at the facility.   SpaceX officials have previously noted the difficulty in scheduling launches out of the Cape and cite it as one of the primary reasons why the company is looking at establishing a launch facility at a location outside of Florida.

SpaceX isn't the only company encountering delays. Orbital Sciences (News - Alert) Corporation is still undergoing certificating tasting at its new launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Island, VA. Space News reports the pad won't be ready for a hold-down test with the new Antares (formerly Taurus 2) rocket until April.  

Orbital expects to update its launch schedule on February 9, when it is scheduled to report its 2011 earnings. The company had expected to conduct a launch of its Antares rocket in 1Q 2012 with its COTS demo berthing with ISS taking place in the second quarter of 2012.

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