European satellite Eutelsat 9B to be launched from Baikonur at 1:20 a.m. Moscow time on Jan 30 - Roscosmos
MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - The Russian state space corporation Roscosmos has rescheduled the launch of Russia's Proton-M launch vehicle (LV) carrying the Eutelsat 9B communications satellite from January 28 to January 30, 2016, Roscosmos has said.
"The reason for postponing the launch is unfavorable weather conditions, which have affected delivery logistics," Roscosmos said in a press release seen by Interfax on Thursday evening.
Preparations for the launch vehicle are now continuing at the assembly and testing facility.
No technical defects have been detected as the LV and the satellite are being prepared for the launch, Roscosmos said.
"The launch will be conducted from Launch Pad No. 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:20 a.m. Moscow time on January 30, 2016," it said.
A Baikonur source told Interfax on Tuesday that the launch of the Proton-M LV with the European satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome had been postponed for 48 hours.
Eutelsat 9B is a powerful Ku-band telecommunications satellite, which was built by Airbus Defense and Space using the Eurostar E3000 satellite platform. It is designed to provide digital TV and data relay services to customers in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
In October 2015, International Launch Services (ILS), a subsidiary of Russia's Khrunichev Space Center, and Paris-based Eutelsat Communications, one of the leading satellite operators, signed a long-term contract on Proton-M LV launch services. Several Proton-M LVs carrying Eutelsat satellites are expected to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome from 2016 to 2023. Proton LVs have helped lift 11 Eutelsat satellites into orbit in the past 15 years.