Paris (AFP)
And one more postponement: the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, in French Guiana, with three satellites on board for the operators Intelsat and B-SAT, was once again postponed, from August 14 to 15, announced Thursday. Arianespace
The operation had already been postponed twice in July. The "unfavorable wind conditions at altitude" are this time imputed.
The take-off of the European heavy launcher was initially scheduled for July 28 and then postponed to July 31 "in order to carry out additional technical inspections". And on the last day of July, the launch was interrupted ... 2 minutes 14 seconds before takeoff "following an abnormal behavior of a probe in the liquid hydrogen tank of the main cryogenic stage".
The new firing window, set for August 15, is from 6:33 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. Kourou time, or from 11:33 p.m. to 12:20 a.m. Paris time on the night of August 15 to 16.
The launcher must carry two telecommunications satellites (Galaxy 30 and BSAT-4b) for the benefit of the operators Intelsat and B-SAT and a satellite maintenance vehicle (MEV-2) which will dock with another device already in orbit (Intelsat 10-02).
"Once docked, it will control the orbit of the client satellite using its own thrusters. After its mission for IS-10-02, MEV-2 will undock and be available for another client's vehicle." , specifies Arianespace, which is the first launch of a satellite maintenance vehicle.
Arianespace had also postponed the firing of the European Vega rocket in early July due to particularly unfavorable weather conditions. This shot has been postponed to August 17.
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