MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of a modified Zenit carrier rocket with an Israeli communications satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan has been postponed for 24 hours, a Russian space agency spokesperson said.
The Zenit-3SLB rocket was scheduled to orbit the Israeli AMOS-3 satellite Thursday after a number of delays. The Roscosmos official said the current delay was due to technical reasons.
Russia started preparations for the first launch of a three-stage Zenith-3SLB rocket from a land-based launch site in October last year.
All previous launches of this type of Zenit rocket were conducted as part of the Sea Launch program from the Pacific Ocean.
The $170-mln Israeli satellite will join the AMOS-1 and AMOS-2 satellites to increase capacity, expand coverage, and enhance direct cross-Atlantic links connecting the Mideast to Europe and the U.S. East Coast, according to the fleet's operator, Space Communications Ltd.
