Tim Furniss/LONDON
The launch of Titan and Ariane boosters set for late July and early August have been delayed after technical and operational problems.
A National Reconnaissance Office satellite, due to go into orbit aboard a Titan IVB booster from launch pad 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on 31 July, has been delayed for a second time. Lift-off was originally set for 17 July, but was delayed when Lockheed Martin decided to re-check wiring harnesses. The latest delay, until at least 16 August, is needed so that a leaking seal in the hydraulic actuator on one of the two solid rocket boosters can be repaired. The unit is used in the booster's nozzle gimballing system.
This delay will have a knock-on effect on the Titan II launch of the NOAA-L weather satellite which was scheduled from Vandenberg on 18 August.
Meanwhile, the 11 August launch of Arianespace's V131 Ariane 4 carrying Nilesat 102 and Brasilsat B4 has been delayed to 17 August for "operational reasons", says Arianespace. Technical problems on an Ariane 5 have already forced the V130 flight to be rescheduled from 15 July to September.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) launch of a Minotaur booster for the US Air Force went ahead as planned on 19 July. The launch, from Vandenberg AFB, carried the US Air Force MightySat 2-1 spacecraft. The four-stage Minotaur is a converted Minuteman missile with OSC Pegasus-class upper stages and is part of the US Air Force's Orbital-Suborbital programme. MightySat II-1, which carries 10 technology demonstration payloads, is the first in a potential series of spacecraft built by Spectrum Astro.
Source: Flight International
