spacetoday.net: Satellite glitch delays Ariane 5 launch

Posted: Wed, Apr 9, 2003, 8:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
Ariane Flight 155 launch (Arianespace)

A last-minute payload problem delayed Tuesday night's scheduled launch of an Ariane 5 for at least one day. The Ariane 5G was scheduled to launch Tuesday evening to place the Galaxy 12 and Insat 3A satellites into orbit, but Arianespace announced Tuesday afternoon that the launch would be delayed because of an unspecified issue with one of the satellites. Arianespace didn't identify the satellite with the problem, but media reports indicated the glitch was with the Insat 3A spacecraft, operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation; PanAmSat officials said there were no problems with its Galaxy 12 spacecraft. Arianespace plans to announce Wednesday whether it will be able to launch on Wednesday or if a further delay will be required. The launch would be the first for the Ariane 5 since the December failure of the inaugural launch of the upgraded Ariane 5 ECA booster. The ECA version is not expected to return to flight until 2004 as problems with its Vulcain-2 main engine are corrected.