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Satnews Daily
March 31st, 2014

Sea Launch—Discrepancy Demands De-Mate + Delay (Launch Preparations)


[SatNews] During the final “dry” roll-out phase of integrated launch vehicle (ILV) processing at Home Port in support of the EUTELSAT 3B mission, a discrepancy in the nominal movement of the cable-mast and the Zenit-2S LV lateral plate occurred while installing the ILV onto the launch pad.


Artistic rendition of the EUTELSAT 3B satellite.
Image courtesy of Airbus Defence and Space.

This caused mechanical damage to the lateral plate housing that's located on the inter-stage truss of the ILV.  Resolution of this condition will necessitate a delay to the planned launch date of April 15, 2014.

The decision was made to de-mate the Payload Unit and Block-DM-SL onboard the Sea Launch Commander to resolve the issue, establish the root cause and perform additional checks of the interface between the launch vehicle and ground support equipment connectors. Once the above tasks have been completed, Sea Launch will announce an updated schedule and launch day for EUTELSAT 3B.

For further details, please visit http://www.sea-launch.com/