The launch of a Russian Proton-M carrier rocket with a Dutch telecommunication satellite onboard scheduled for Friday has been postponed indefinitely for technical reasons, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Friday.
This is the second delay in the rocket’s launch, which was initially scheduled for December 26, but then postponed for technical reasons.
“Today we are planning to carry out operations to dismount the Proton-M rocket from the launch pad…and transport it to the integration building,” a statement on the Roscosmos website said.
“The date and time of the launch will be established after all registered problems are fixed and additional tests are held,” the statement read.
The SES-4 satellite to be delivered to the orbit by the Russian rocket will be the largest and most powerful in the group of SES satellites, built by U.S. company Space Systems/Loral for the Dutch operator Ses World Skies.
It is designed to provide various satellite services to customers in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America. Equipped with 52 C-band and 72 Ku-band transponders, the satellite has a life span of 15 years.
