MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federal Space Agency said Monday the Soyuz-Fregat rocket carrying the Venus Express space vehicle was set to be launched at 3:33 GMT November 9 from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.

Russia has delayed the launch of the European Space Agency's (ESA) first mission to Venus, originally scheduled for October 26, because of an insulation problem involving the spacecraft's launch vehicle.

The agency said Russian space authorities had coordinated the new launch date with the ESA, which operates the spacecraft that was manufactured by French company Astrium and designed to carry out the first global study of Venus' atmosphere.