SES ASTRA on Friday said that the launch of its new ASTRA 3B satellite has been postponed due to an anomaly that occurred in a launcher subsystem.
The launch service provider, Arianespace, has decided to execute the necessary technical replacements and to postpone the launch for several days. The launch vehicle and its payload, the ASTRA 3B and COMSATBw-2 satellite, have been placed in stand-by mode and maintained in fully safe conditions.
ASTRA 3B was scheduled for launch today onboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. The new ASTRA satellite was built by EADS Astrium in Toulouse, France, and is intended to be located at 23.5 degrees East.