French Guiana: Kazakhstan's KazEOSat-1 Earth observation satellite was not launched from Kourou space centre in French Guiana as planned on April 28. The launch has been postponed till April 30, 2014.
French Arianespace, in its statement issued to the media explained, “Arianespace observed a non-compliant behavior of the payload’s ventilation umbilical during countdown after the gantry’s withdrawal.”
KazEOSat-1 is a 900kg satellite with expected lifespan is 7.5 years to be deployed into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was built by Airbus Defence and Space for Kazakhstan. It will deliver high-quality panchromatic and multispectral products for a wide range of applications like environmental monitoring, management of natural resources, and homeland surveillance. It can also be an aid in forecasting natural disasters, monitoring agricultural crops and exploration of national resources, including oil.
Source: Tengri News
