By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit carrier rocket with an Israeli communications satellite on board from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan has been postponed, a Russian space agency said.
The Zenit-3SLB rocket was scheduled to orbit the Israeli AMOS-3 satellite Thursday after a number of delays. The Roscosmos official said the current delay was due to technical reasons.
Russia started preparations for the first launch of a three-stage Zenith-3SLB rocket from a land-based launch site in October last year.
All previous launches of this type of Zenit rocket were conducted as part of the Sea Launch programme from the Pacific Ocean.
The $170 million Israeli satellite will join the AMOS-1 and AMOS-2 satellites to increase capacity, expand coverage and enhance direct cross-Atlantic links connecting the Mideast to Europe and the US East Coast, according to the fleet’s operator, Space Communications Ltd.