Amazonas 4A and Astra 5B delayed
February 17, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Arianespace’s giant rocket always takes two ‘passengers’ into space in the form of a pair of satellites. That’s the good news. The bad news is that if one satellite is delayed then the complete launch is held back because the two satellites are deliberately configured for a specific launch.
Unfortunately, that’s the problem with a planned March 7 launch of Amazonas-4A, which is delayed for owners Hispasat to conduct extra checks on its valuable cargo. This means that Astra 5B is also delayed while those last-minute checks are carried out.
Arianespace would only say that a new date for the launch would be announced “very soon”.