WASHINGTON — European officials say the Vega C rocket is ready for its return to flight next week despite a technical issue that will delay the laun

Vega C return to flight slips a day

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2024-11-28 18:00:02

WASHINGTON — European officials say the Vega C rocket is ready for its return to flight next week despite a technical issue that will delay the launch of an Earth science satellite by at least a day.

Arianespace announced Nov. 27 that the upcoming Vega C launch of the Sentinel-1C spacecraft would be delayed from Dec. 3. The launch services provider said it needed to “conduct further precautionary checks and activities” on the rocket. Arianespace said it estimated the launch would be delayed by a day, with an updated launch date provided by Nov. 29. Liftoff, regardless of the day, will be at 4:20 p.m. Eastern in an instantaneous launch window.

The announcement took place a few hours before a previously scheduled European Space Agency media briefing about the launch. At the briefing, officials from Arianespace and Avio, the prime contractor of the Vega C, provided little additional details but suggested the issues causing the delay were minor.

“I don’t think there is a lot to elaborate on,” said Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, when asked for details about the delay. “We are speaking about something which, I would say, has very limited consequences.”

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