Proton's launch with EchoStar 21 satellite postponed until Oct 10
MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - The launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome has been postponed until early October, Roscosmos said.
"Roscosmos' commission which plans spacecraft launches has decided to postpone the launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket with the U.S. communications satellite EchoStar 21. The preliminary new date of the launch is October 10, 2016," the state corporation said in a statement on its website.
It was reported earlier that the launch of the Proton-M with the EchoStar 21 satellite from Baikonur could be postponed by a month or more.
"The next launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket could be held no sooner than the fourth quarter of 2016. Previously it was scheduled for August 29, i.e. the launch could be postponed by at least a month," a source in the space rocket industry told Interfax.
The EchoStar 21 satellite has yet to be delivered to the cosmodrome, he said. "The satellite has not yet been delivered due to the ongoing inquiry into failure of the propulsion unit in the Proton-M carrier rocket's second stage during the Intelsat-31 launch in June," the source said.
