spacetoday.net: GOES launch delayed until October

Posted: Wed, Aug 17, 2005, 8:29 AM ET (1229 GMT)
GOES-N illustration (Boeing)

The launch of a weather satellite was postponed Tuesday, likely keeping the satellite on the ground until October. The GOES-N weather satellite was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 4 Tuesday night, but the launch was scrubbed several minutes before liftoff because of a battery voltage alarm in the vehicle's second stage. Engineers later said that the batteries used by the rocket's self-destruct system had expired and needed to be replaced. NASA is likely to delay the launch until no earlier than October 8 to avoid having the satellite undergoing on-orbit checking during the "eclipse season" around the equinox, when the satellite passes through the Earth's shadow.