It became known that the launch of the Soyuz-ST carrier rocket with the UAE Falcon Eye 2 spacecraft from the site of the Kourou cosmodrome was postponed for a day. This decision was made after the discovery of a technical malfunction in the Fregat upper stage. It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to its own source in the rocket and space industry.
βThe launch has been postponed to March 7th. Yesterday, problems arose with the Fregat upper stage, and specialists are currently dealing with them, βthe source of the news agency said. So far, there have been no official comments on this issue from representatives of the state corporation Roskosmos, which is the manufacturer of Soyuz rockets.
In January of this year, it was announced that the Soyuz-ST-A carrier rocket with the Falcon Eye 6 satellite on board would be launched on March 2. According to available data, the satellite is intended for conducting optical-electronic reconnaissance.
Earlier, Arianespace, which provides spacecraft launch services using Soyuz, Vega and Ariane-5 launch vehicles from the Kourou cosmodrome, announced that 2020 Soyuz-ST rocket launches should take place in 4. In total, since the fall of 2011, Soyuz-ST launch vehicles have launched 23 times from the site of the Kourou cosmodrome. During one of the launches in 2014, malfunctions in the Fregat upper stage led to the fact that the European Galileo navigation satellites were launched into an off-design orbit.
Source: 3dnews.ru