Theos-2 satellite launch postponed as rocket faces technical difficulties
The launch of Thailand's low earth orbit satellite, Theos-2, scheduled for Saturday morning, has been postponed until further notice due to technical difficulties, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) said on Saturday.
The Theos-2 was scheduled to be launched into space on Vega Flight VV23 rocket of French company Arianespace at 10pm on Friday (8am Saturday Thailand time) from the Guiana Space Centre, South America, the space agency said in its Facebook post.
The launch was being monitored by the satellite control centre in Sriracha district, Chonburi province, since 7.30am on Saturday.
GISTDA said that at around 8.37am, Arianespace notified that they found problems in the rocket, which would also be carrying 10 other satellites to orbit, and had to abort the launch.
GISTDA said it would, meanwhile, inspect the Theos-2 satellite together with co-developer Airbus to make sure that the aborted launch had not caused any problem and that it would be ready for the next launch, whose schedule is yet to be finalised.
Theos-2 has been designed for recording images from space and Earth exploration, continuing the mission of Theos-1, which was launched in 2008.
Thai space agencies are also working to develop a 100% Thai-made satellite called "Theos-3”.
