The launch of the Russian-NASA-international Bion 11 recoverable satellite, with two macaque monkeys aboard, has been postponed from 10 December to about 24-25 December by technical problems and launch pressures at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, indicating that new military launches are expected.
The Bion 11 mission - the sixth involving monkeys - has come under heavy criticism from animal-rights campaigners. An identical Bion 12 mission is planned for December 1998.
Source: Flight International