spacetoday.net: Weather delays Delta 2 launch again

Posted: Sat, Dec 8, 2007, 9:55 AM ET (1455 GMT)
Strong winds delayed the launch of a Delta 2 from California Friday evening. The Delta 2, carrying the COSMO-SkyMed 2 satellite, was scheduled to lift off at 9:31 pm EDT (0231 GMT Saturday), but high winds at the Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site forced controllers to scrub the launch well in advance of the scheduled launch time. United Launch Alliance plans to make another launch attempt at the same time Saturday, but weather conditions are forecast to remain poor. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed by high upper-level winds; a Thursday attempt was canceled early in the day to repair insulating material on the rocket. COSMO-SkyMed 2 is the second in a series of four radar imagery satellites for the Italian space agency ASI and the Italian Ministry of Defense. The first satellite was launched in June, also on a Delta 2 from Vandenberg.