spacetoday.net: Valve problem postpones Ariane launch

Updated: Sat, Jul 2, 2011, 2:12 PM ET (1812 GMT)
Originally Posted: Sat, Jul 2, 2011, 7:15 AM ET (1115 GMT)
Ariane 5 prior to Astra 1N/BSAT-3c launch (Arianespace)

A technical problem scrubbed Friday evening's scheduled launch of two communications satellites on an Ariane 5, delaying the launch until late this month. The rocket was set to lift off at 5:43 pm EDT (2143 GMT) Friday from Kourou, French Guiana, but the countdown was halted a few minutes before launch, and the launch attempt was later scrubbed. Officials blamed the scrub on a liquid hydrogen valve in the rocket's core booster that did not properly close. Arianespace announced Saturday that the launch would be postponed by approximately 20 days in order to replace the valve. The rocket is carrying the Astra 1N communications satellite, built by EADS Astrium for SES, and the BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R communications satellite, built by Lockheed Martin for Japanese companies B-SAT and Sky Perfect JSAT.