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ESA Restarts Countdown for MetOp Launch Tonight |
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PARIS, July 18, 2006/Satnews Daily/ ― The European Space Agency said it has restarted countdown for the launch of MetOp-A, Europe’s first polar-orbiting weather satellite at 18:28 CEST tonight.
MetOP-A was scheduled for launch on a Soyuz-2 rocket from the Baikonur Space Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:28 p.m. EDT (16:28 GMT) Monday but the launch was cancelled 24 hours before the liftoff.
Reports say the launch on Monday was aborted because of a problem with the rocket. Starsem, the Soyuz company tapped to launch the satellite, said the problem “had been diagnosed as due to an incorrect parameter in a ground test procedure to provide final calibration verification of the inertial platform.”
It said the error has been corrected and verified on a reference platform, then tested OK on the launcher vehicle.
Starsem said a full dry run had been made after which the launcher countdown was made to enter normal sequence. ESA said Starsem and its Russian partners carried out complementary verifications.
MetOp-A is Europe’s first polar-orbit weather satellite, and will be used in conjunction with a similar series of US polar-orbit weather satellites. MetOp-A will improve Europe's meteorological observation capabilities and increase its capacity for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
Recent Stories: Improved Soyuz 2-1a Launcher's Payload Fairing Ready for July 17 MetOp-A Launch MetOp 1 Readied for July Flight on Upgraded Soyuz 2-1a Launcher Starsem Begins Preparations for Soyuz launch of MetOp 1 in July |
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