The European Space Agency says the planned April 2002 launch of the Integral gamma ray astronomical observatory is under pressure because of technical problems with its three instruments - an imager, X-ray monitor and spectrometer.
A fourth system, an optical camera, is ready to fly. The $330 million Euro-Russian Integral, which will be launched by a Proton booster from Baikonur, is described as the most sophisticated gamma ray observatory to be launched and will fill the gap left by the NASA Compton gamma ray observatory, which was de-orbited last year.
Source: Flight International