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Launch of Spektr-RG space observatory delayed to backup date

Spektr-RG is a joint Russian-German project

Employees working over the Spektr-RG space apparatus EPA-EFE/SERGEI CHIRIKOV

Employees working over the Spektr-RG space apparatus

© EPA-EFE/SERGEI CHIRIKOV

BAIKONUR /Kazakhstan/, June 21. /TASS/. The launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket equipped with the DM-03 upper stage, which is planned to deliver the Spektr-RG space observatory to orbit, has been delayed to a backup date, Russia’s Roscosmos State Space Corporation said in a statement on Friday.

"During preparations for the launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket equipped with the DM-03 upper stage, a minor flaw was detected. The State Commission has decided to delay the launch to a backup date," the statement reads.

Deputy CEO and Chief Designer at Russia’s NPO Lavochkin aerospace company Alexander Shirshakov said earlier that July 12 had been set as a backup date. A Russian space industry source, in turn, told TASS earlier that the launch was scheduled for June 21 or 22, while July 12 and 13 were viewed as backup dates.

Spektr-RG is a joint Russian-German project with a goal "to map all massive structures in the observable Universe in X-rays," making "an all-sky survey… with unprecedented spectral and angular resolution," Roscosmos said.

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