Galileo satellite launch delayed for technical reasons

Oct 20, 2011, 16:44 GMT

Moscow/Brussels - The widely publicized launch of the first two satellites for Europe's long-awaited Galileo navigation system was postponed on Thursday, with European Union officials citing 'technical reasons.'

The launch in Kourou, French Guiana, was called off less than 90 minutes before its scheduled 1034GMT start. It is now set to take place on Friday at 1030GMT, the European Commission said.

An unnamed official from the Russian space agency told the Interfax news agency that 'a problem occurred during the fueling of the third stage of the rocket.'

The satellites will be taken into orbit - 23,600 kilometres from Earth - by a Russian Soyuz ST rocket.

The Soyuz is a workhorse of Russia's space fleet, with more than 1,100 successful launches since its first use in the 1960s. Its reliability has come into question recently though, with the August failure of a supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA officials have said the ISS could require evacuation, if a planned November Soyuz mission carrying crew replacements fails to take place.

Russia's national space agency has intended the French Guiana launch in part as a test to confirm the Soyuz's reliability.

The Galileo project has been plagued by problems of its own, including delays and cost overruns. It is intended to rival the existing US GPS stellite navigation system, as well as networks planned by Russia, China, Japan and India.

This month's launch will pave the way for Galileo to start supplying three services in 2014 - a free access system for the general public, a search and rescue service and an encrypted service for high-level security assignments.

Eventually, a total of 30 satellites will make up the system. The project is expected to cost 1 billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) per year over the next two decades, according to the commission.

It had arranged for Thursday's launch to be broadcast live at a viewing area in Brussels, complete with an interactive exhibit and a speech by Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.