Posted: Fri, Feb 14, 2003, 5:21 AM ET (1021 GMT)
High winds have delayed for the third consecutive day the final launch of the Ariane 4 booster. The launch of Intelsat 907 on an Ariane 44L booster was scheduled for Friday morning at 2 am EST (0700 GMT), but strong upper-level winds forced Arianespace to delay the launch until at least Saturday. Similar windy conditions delayed launch attempts on Wednesday and Thursday. The launch, when it does occur, will be the last for the Ariane 4 series of boosters which date back to the late 1980s. Arianespace planned the retirement of the Ariane 4 several years ago as the new, more powerful Ariane 5 entered service. Despite the failure of the first Ariane 5 ECA booster in December, Arianespace is planning a launch of a "generic" Ariane 5 booster — unaffected by the engine problems with the ECA version — in March.

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•  AFP article