Launch Of Ariane 5 Rocket From Kourou Postponed Until Dec. 21

Launch Of Ariane 5 Rocket From Kourou Postponed Until Dec. 21 (NSI News Source Info) PARIS - December 9, 2008: The launch of an Ariane 5 carrier rocket with two telecoms satellites from the Kourou space center in French Guiana has been moved to December 21, French media said on Monday. The sixth launch this year of an Ariane 5 rocket had been planned for December 11 between 12:35 and 1:45 a.m. Moscow time (21:35-22:45 GMT December 10). The launch is now scheduled for 12:51-1:50 a.m. Moscow time (21:51-22:50 GMT December 20). The rocket is due to put into orbit two satellites, HOT BIRD TM-9 and W2M, for the European communications and satellite television operator Eutelsat. The French media cited the European space concern Arianspace SA as saying that the launch had been delayed due to mass protests in French Guiana against high gasoline prices. Kourou is located 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Cayenne on the Atlantic coast of South America. The European Space Agency launch facility is mainly used to launch geostationary satellites into orbit. The first launch of a Russian Soyuz-ST rocket from Kourou is due in late 2009. The center's proximity to the equator will allow the modernized Russian rocket to orbit heavier satellites than from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk in northern Russia.