diff --git a/scripts/admin/launch-meteor b/scripts/admin/launch-meteor
index cd31ad23ce..1ec76b4280 100755
--- a/scripts/admin/launch-meteor
+++ b/scripts/admin/launch-meteor
@@ -73,7 +73,23 @@ if [ ! -x "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR/meteor" ]; then
   TARBALL_URL="${TMP_ROOT_URL}/meteor-bootstrap-${PLATFORM}.tar.gz"
 
   INSTALL_TMPDIR="$(dirname "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR")/.meteor-install-tmp"
-  rm -rf "$INSTALL_TMPDIR"
+
+  # Generate the $TARBALL_FILE path based on $TARBALL_URL, but with unsafe
+  # characters replaced by underscores.
+  PART_FILE=".meteor-${TARBALL_URL//[^A-Za-z0-9_.-]/_}.part"
+  TARBALL_FILE="$(dirname "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR")/${PART_FILE}"
+
+  cleanUp() {
+    rm -rf "$TARBALL_FILE"
+    rm -rf "$INSTALL_TMPDIR"
+  }
+
+  # Remove temporary files now in case they exist.
+  cleanUp
+
+  # Make sure cleanUp gets called if we exit abnormally.
+  trap cleanUp EXIT
+
   mkdir "$INSTALL_TMPDIR"
   if [ -n "${USER-}" ]; then
     echo "$USER, this is your first time using Meteor!" 1>&2
@@ -82,20 +98,49 @@ if [ ! -x "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR/meteor" ]; then
   fi
   echo "Installing a Meteor distribution in your home directory." 1>&2
 
+
   # Only show progress bar animations if we have a tty
   # (Prevents tons of console junk when installing within a pipe)
-  if [[ -t 1 ]]; then
-    curl --progress-bar --fail "$TARBALL_URL" | tar -xzf - -C "$INSTALL_TMPDIR"
-  else
-    curl -s --fail "$TARBALL_URL" | tar -xzf - -C "$INSTALL_TMPDIR"
+  VERBOSITY="--silent";
+  if [ -t 1 ]; then
+    VERBOSITY="--progress-bar"
   fi
 
+  echo "Downloading Meteor distribution"
+  # keep trying to curl the file until it works (resuming where possible)
+  MAX_ATTEMPTS=10
+  RETRY_DELAY_SECS=5
+  set +e
+  ATTEMPTS=0
+  while [ $ATTEMPTS -lt $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]
+  do
+    ATTEMPTS=$((ATTEMPTS + 1))
+
+    curl $VERBOSITY --fail --continue-at - \
+      "$TARBALL_URL" --output "$TARBALL_FILE"
+
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+    then
+        break
+    fi
+
+    echo "Retrying download in $RETRY_DELAY_SECS seconds..."
+    sleep $RETRY_DELAY_SECS
+  done
+  set -e
+
   # bomb out if it didn't work, eg no net
+  test -e "${TARBALL_FILE}"
+  tar -xzf "$TARBALL_FILE" -C "$INSTALL_TMPDIR" -o
+
   test -x "${INSTALL_TMPDIR}/.meteor/meteor"
   mv "${INSTALL_TMPDIR}/.meteor" "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR"
-  rmdir "${INSTALL_TMPDIR}"
   # just double-checking :)
   test -x "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR/meteor"
+
+  # The `trap cleanUp EXIT` line above won't actually fire after the exec
+  # call below, so call cleanUp manually.
+  cleanUp
 fi
 
 exec "$METEOR_WAREHOUSE_DIR/meteor" "$@"