Next Ariane Flight Postponed 4 Days
The resumption of Europe’s Ariane rocket program, grounded since a launch failure last year, has been postponed four days to give technicians more time to prepare, an Arianespace spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Ariane 3 rocket was due to lift off from the space center at Kourou, French Guiana, Sept. 11 carrying Australian and European telecommunications satellites but has now been rescheduled for Sept. 15, she said.
The spokeswoman emphasized that the delay was not due to technical problems.
The last Ariane launch in May, 1986, failed when the rocket’s third stage malfunctioned, causing the loss of two telecommunications satellites.
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