Posted: Mon, Oct 1, 2001, 11:58 PM ET (0358 GMT)
The Air Force has once again pushed back the launch of a Titan 4B booster, officials announced late Monday. The launch, already delayed a day to Tuesday, has been pushed back to Wednesday at 5:19 pm EDT (2119 GMT) at the earliest. Spaceflight Now reported that an investigation into the instrumentation for the Titan 4B's solid rocket boosters is the cause of the delays, but Air Force officials have not given any official reason for the delays. When launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the Titan will place into orbit a classified spacecraft believed by many to be a reconnaissance satellite... NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft is ready to begin scientific work, the space agency rported Monday. MAP, launched June 30 of this year, has completed a three-month journey to the Earth-Sun L2 point, 1.5 million kilometers behind the Earth in the direction opposite the Sun. From there the spacecraft will conduct observations of the cosmic microwave background, radiation left behind by the Big Bang... Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Monday it has signed a contract with Japanese direct TV broadcaster B-SAT to build and launch the BSAT-2c spacecraft. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2003; financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Although not explicitly stated, BSAT-2c is likely a replacement for BSAT-2b, another Orbital-built satellite that was marooned in a useless orbit in July when the upper stage of the Ariane 5 that launched it experienced propulsion problems.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now Titan launch status center
•  NASA press release about MAP
•  Orbital press release