Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is now aiming to launch its second Falcon 1 rocket no earlier than March 19, 10 days later than a previous target, to allow extra time for an equipment swap.

In statement released late Monday, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said the Falcon 1’s new window stretches from March 19 to March 22 at the booster’s equatorial-based Omelek Island launch site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands. Earlier announcements by the El Segundo, California-based SpaceX targeted a launch window that opened on March 9.

The extra time, wrote Musk in the Monday update, will allow engineers to install new thrust vector control boards to the Falcon 1 rocket’s second stage.

“The upgraded boards will be installed this week,” Musk wrote. “If all goes well, Falcon 1 will do a static fire next week and then launch in the week of the 19th.”

The upcoming Falcon 1 launch will be the booster’s first flight after a failed March 2006 debut that ended just after liftoff [image]. The mission is a demonstration flight for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which also funded the Falcon 1’s failed inaugural launch, and features two experimental payloads, SpaceX officials have said.