Investigations into a potential technical problem on the Boeing Delta 2 launcher will not delay the launch of the first two Globalstar mobile-communications satellites and a new set of five Iridium spacecraft scheduled to be placed into orbit in early February.
Although successful, the Delta 7925 flight carrying the UK's Skynet 4D on 10 January experienced two jolting motions during firings of the second stage. Boeing had earlier said that it would not relaunch the Delta until the events were fully investigated.
The first Globalstars will be launched from Pad 17A at Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Boeing Delta II two-stage version, with three strap-on boosters, while the launch of the five Iridiums on a standard Delta II 7920 two-stage booster from Vandenberg AFB, California, will bring to 51 the number of Iridiums launched by a mixed bag of Deltas ,Russian Protons and a Chinese Long March 2C. Three satellites are not functioning.
Source: Flight International
