spacetoday.net: Rosetta launch postponed; Ariane 5 grounded

Posted: Tue, Jan 14, 2003, 2:42 PM ET (1942 GMT)
Rosetta spacecraft illustration (ESA)

European Space Agency and Arianespace officials announced Tuesday that the launch of ESA's Rosetta comet mission has been postponed indefinitely while issues regarding the spacecraft's Ariane 5 launch vehicle are resolved. Arianespace announced in a press release that the launch would be postponed until "all Ariane 5 system qualification and review processes have been checked." No date for a launch has been given, and the statement said only that Arianespace would consult with ESA and other parties to determine when the spacecraft could be launched. Since Rosetta must be launched by the end of January in order to reach its destination, comet Wirtanen, the decision could leave the spacecraft grounded for months while project officials find an alternative target for the mission. As late as Monday project officials were optimistic that Rosetta would launch this month, as soon as January 22, because the Ariane 5 being using is a different model than the one that failed on its maiden launch last month. However, the BBC reported that investigators had "found something in the operational set-up" at the Kourou launch facility that caused concerns that, along with the unique flight profile required for the launch, led to the postponement. The BBC reported that all Ariane 5 launches have been "halted indefinitely" while the concerns are worked out. That halt will also cause the postponement of another ESA mission, the Smart-1 lunar orbiter, which was scheduled to launch on an Ariane 5 in March.