Launch of Saudi Arabia designed satellites postponed

DUBAI: The scheduled launch of two satellites designed and made in Saudi Arabia on Saturday was postponed and moved to Sunday instead.
The Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket and its Fregat upper stage was scheduled for takeoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver 38 satellites from 18 countries, including that of Saudi Arabia, into orbit after approval was given to load kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants in the rocket.
Roscosmos, which handles space flights, cosmonautics programs and aerospace research for Russia, eventually postponed the launch.
“The launch of the Soyuz-2.la rocket... with 38 foreign satellites on board from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has been postponed until a later date,” Roscosmos said.
Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the launch was postponed after a surge in voltage was detected.
“We decided not to take the risk,” Rogozin told the RIA Novosti news agency.
The Shaheen Sat satellite would have been the 17th spacecraft from King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology to be launched in Kazakhstan. Shaheen Sat would be utilized for photography and maritime tracking purposes.
CubeSat, meanwhile, was designed by King Saud University for educational use. The university would have been the first in the Kingdom to send a satellite into space if not for the scuttled launch.
“I am hopeful that great moves and achievements will be made so that we can continue to be in the lead. The Kingdom deserves to be in a position of leadership in everything, including space activities,” Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Space Authority, earlier said.

- with AFP