Posted: Tue, Jan 10, 2006, 7:14 AM ET (1214 GMT)
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), the Canadian company that is the prime contractor on the Radarsat-2 satellite, has shifted the launch of the spacecraft from a Delta 2 to a Soyuz. MDA has signed a contract with Starsem, the French-Russian joint venture that markets the Soyuz, to launch Radarsat-2 on a Soyuz from Baikonur in December 2006. Radarsat-2 had been scheduled for launch this year on a Delta 2, under a Boeing contract announced back in 2000, when the spacecraft was slated for launch in 2003. No reason was given for the change in launch. The spacecraft, funded by MDA and the Canadian Space Agency, will eventually replace the existing Radarsat-1 satellite, providing high-resolution radar imagery of the Earth.

Related Links:

•  Itar-Tass article
•  Starsem press release