WASHINGTON. Sept 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The launch of six American Globalstar-2 satellites from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, earlier scheduled for October, has been put off by two months, Globalstar has reported.
The third launch with six second-generation satellites has been re-scheduled for early December, when Soyuz carrier rockets have been rechecked following the launch failure of the Progress M-12M space freighter, the company said in a press release.
The satellites will be launched only after a successful flight of the Soyuz carrier rocket with a spacecraft for the International Space Station, it said.
An Interfax-AVN source in the rocket-space industry said on Tuesday that the launch of six Globalstar-2 satellites, initially set for October 8, has been put off until December 10, given the need to recheck the RD-0110 engine in the third stage of the Soyuz-2-1A carrier rocket after the causes of the loss of the Progress M-12M space freighter become known.
The recheck will be done by the manufacturer and the carrier rocket's third stage will have to be moved to the manufacturer from the cosmodrome, he said.