spacetoday.net: Shuttle return to flight delayed to September 2004

Posted: Sat, Oct 4, 2003, 9:59 AM ET (1359 GMT)
STS-107: launch (NASA/KSC)

NASA officials confirmed Friday that they have delayed the launch of Atlantis on the first post-Columbia mission until at least September 2004. Atlantis is now scheduled to launch on mission STS-114 between September 12 and October 10, 2004, about six months later than the previous official target date. The delay is needed to carry out additional inspections of the shuttle as well as complete return-to-flight preparations. Shuttle managers caution that the launch could slip further; if the shuttle doesn’t fly by October 10 there are only a few days available in November and January before March 2005. NASA also announced it is adding another test flight, designated STS-121, to carry out additional demonstrations of on-orbit inspection and repair techniques. Discovery is currently slated to launch on that mission no earlier than November 15, 2004.