Glitch Delays European Mission to Venus
By Vladimir Isachenkov
The Associated Press
The launch of a European probe intended to explore Venus has been postponed because of a problem with a Russian booster rocket — a delay that closely follows the loss of a high-profile European satellite due to a Russian booster failure, officials said Saturday.
The European Space Agency's Venus Express probe was set to be launched next Wednesday by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but pre-launch checks had revealed a problem with thermal insulation in its upper stage, Russia's Federal Space Agency said in a statement.
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