Posted: Wed, Oct 18, 2006, 1:51 PM ET (1751 GMT)
The launch of a European weather satellite was postponed again on Wednesday, this time because of poor weather. The Soyuz rocket carrying the MetOp-A satellite was scheduled to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:28 pm EDT (1628 GMT) but the launch was postponed earlier in the day because of strong high-altitude winds. The launch has already been delayed several times since this summer, including a scrub in the final minutes before launch on Tuesday because of an erroneous low pressure reading in an upper stage fuel tank. MetOp-A is Europe's first low Earth orbit weather satellite. the launch has been rescheduled for the same time on Thursday.

Related Links:

•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  BBC article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  Interfax article
•  Itar-Tass article