MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Sea Launch Consortium has delayed for a day the launch of the Eutelsat-70B satellite with a Zenit-3SL rocket from the Pacific because of the late arrival of the Odysseus launch platform.
"The takeoff of the Zenit-3SL rocket with the DM-SL third stage and the satellite aboard will be delayed for 24 hours, until 20:43:55 GMT on December 3 (00:43:55 Moscow time on December 4)," says a report posted on the Energia Corporation Web site on Tuesday.
The launch platform will reach the designated area of the equatorial Pacific on November 30.
Eutelsat-70B will be positioned at 70.5 degrees East on the geostationary orbit to replace Eutelsat-70A. The new satellite has broader data transfer capacities in the Ku range. It will support plentiful professional applications, including state services, broadband access, GSM communication and video broadcast in Europe, Africa, Central and Southeast Asia.
Sea Launch AG international consortium was established in 1995. The company, which completed its reorganization in 2010, is headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. Sea Launch AG delivers satellites to orbit with Zenit-2SL rockets.
Two successful rocket launches have been taken place under the Sea Launch program in 2012.