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Soyuz-ST-A launch from Kourou spaceport scheduled for November 29 - Rogozin

The postponement may be caused only by weather conditions

MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. The launch of a Soyuz-ST-A carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana is scheduled for Sunday and could be postponed only due to weather conditions, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on Saturday.

"The launch will take place at the earlier scheduled time, in other words, tomorrow early in the morning. The postponement may be caused only by weather conditions, but for now we are heading towards tomorrow," Rogozin wrote on his Twitter page.

On Friday, a source in the domestic space industry told TASS that the final tests of a Soyuz-ST-A carrier rocket at the Kourou spaceport had passed successfully and no faults had been found. On Monday, a source told TASS that Roscosmos specialists had found technical problems with the rocket during preparations for its launch from the Guiana Space Center. A source in the space industry explained to TASS that a leakage of the electric pneumatic valve had been found during tests at the assembly and measuring compound. A new item was brought from Russia to replace it, the source said.

Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin confirmed on Tuesday that Russian specialists had found a faulty valve in the Soyuz launch vehicle at the Kourou spaceport, thus preventing an accident during its launch.

A Soyuz-ST-A carrier rocket for orbiting a UAE Falcon Eye 2 satellite is scheduled to blast off from the Kourou spaceport on November 29. The launch was numerously delayed over faults with the Fregat booster.

The Soyuz-ST-A carrier rocket has been developed and is manufactured by Russia’s Progress Space Rocket Center under the Soyuz program at the Guiana Space Center.

The launch vehicle is a modification of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket of stage 1a adapted to the requirements of operation at the Guiana Space Center in terms of safety (receipt of telecommands from Earth to terminate the flight), the telemetry system (transmitters operating in the decimeter band with the European telemetry frame structure) and the conditions of operation (increased humidity, transportation by sea and others).

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