Article Posted on : - Dec 18, 2009

PARIS (BNS): The launch of France's Helios 2B satellite has been put off for the second time.

The military observation satellite, which was slated to lift off on board an Ariane 5 rocket from the French Guiana space centre near here on Thursday, was postponed after the countdown was halted during the final minutes, Arianespace said.

�As this mission has an exact moment of liftoff due to its trajectory to place Helios 2B into Sun-synchronous polar orbit, the countdown�s interruption requires a rescheduling of the mission,� the company said, adding further information in this regard would be provided soon.

This is the second time the military reconnaissance satellite's launch has been deferred. Earlier on December 9, the satellite could not be launched due to technical reasons.