Space

Dnepr rocket to be launched April 17 - space agency

RIA Novosti

28/03/2007 10:39 MISSION CONTROL March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of a Dnepr rocket, grounded since a crash last summer, has been postponed until April 17 for technical reasons, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency said.

Igor Panarin said that the launch, which was to have occurred from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan Tuesday morning, was put-off for several weeks due to problems with the rocket booster.

"A decision has been made to postpone the launch until April 17 after all problems have been resolved," Panarin said.

The rocket, which will place into orbit an Egyptian satellite, EgyptSat, six Saudi Arabian satellites - one SaudiSat-3 and five SaudiComSat - as well as P-Pod micro satellites and six university CubeSat satellites, has been grounded since a crash July 26, 2006 shortly after liftoff in Kazakhstan.

The rocket is a civilian version of the heavy R-36M2 Voyevoda (SS-18 Satan) intercontinental ballistic missile.