The Max Launch Abort System (MLAS)launched from Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., this morning.

That test had been set for Saturday, but was delayed to today because of poor weather and site preparation work.

The unpiloted test is part of an effort to design a system for safely propelling future spacecraft and crews away from hazards on the launch pad or during the climb to orbit. This system was developed as an alternative concept to the launch abort system chosen for the Orion space capsule, or crew exploration vehicle.

Orion is part of the Constellation Program, which is developing the next-generation U.S. spacecraft and systems for exploration of the moon. Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] is the prime contractor for Orion. The Ares I rocket, now in development, would lob Orion into orbit, but after years of development work, Ares I may be junked in favor of using a cheaper approach, adapting a military Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle made by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed and The Boeing Co. [BA].

Different segments of the rival Ares I are being developed separately by Boeing, Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK], and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].

The 33-foot-high MLAS vehicle will be launched to an altitude of approximately one mile to simulate an emergency on the launch pad. A full-scale mockup of the crew module will separate from the launch vehicle and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean.