Roscosmos confirms postponement of rocket launch
MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has confirmed that the launch of a Soyuz-2.1A launch vehicle carrying six Global Star satellites has been postponed due to strong wind at an altitude of 8-10 kilometers.
"The government commission decided on February 5 to postpone the launch of the Soyuz-2.1A space rocket with a cluster of six Global Star mobile telecommunication spacecraft to the reserve date of February 6 for meteorological reasons, namely excessive wind force at altitudes between 8 and 10 kilometers," Roscosmos said in a statement on Tuesday.
A source from the Baikonur space center told Interfax earlier on Tuesday that the launch of the Soyuz-2.1A carrying six Global Star mobile telecommunications satellites had been postponed to a reserve date due to unfavorable weather conditions in the area of the space center.
This was to be the last of the four Globalstar launches. The previous missions took place on October 19, 2010, July 13, 2011 and December 28, 2011.
It is planned that 24 second-generation satellites along with the eight first-generation satellites launched in 2007 are to maintain the orbital system's operations until 2025. Globalstar Inc. plans to order 24 more second-generation satellites in the future.
Globalstar was founded in 1991 and started commercial operations in 1999. It went through bankruptcy procedures in 2003-2004. Globalstar LLC was renamed Globalstar Inc in March 2006. The company offers high quality satellite communication and data transmission services to commercial users in 120 countries.
