Posted: Wed, Jul 10, 2002, 9:44 PM ET (0144 GMT)
The inaugural launch of the Boeing Delta 4 booster has been delayed from late August until early October, Spaceflight Now reported this week. The booster, which had been scheduled to launch from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral, is now slated to fly around October 9. The delay will give engineers more time to complete tests of the new booster, which had fallen behind schedule. The booster is one of two new expendable launch vehicles developed under an Air Force program known as EELV; the other, the Atlas 5, is slated to make its maiden flight August 12. The first Delta 4 will carry the Eutelsat W5 communications satellite. Eutelsat is reportedly paying on $25-30 million for the mission, payable only if the satellite is delivered successfully in orbit.

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