Article Posted on : - Feb 24, 2011

Artist's concept of the Glory spacecraft in orbit. Credit: NASA

CALIFORNIA (BNS): NASA has postponed the launch of the Glory Earth observation satellite until Friday, due to some technical glitches.

During the final 15 minutes before Wednesday's scheduled launch of 10:09 am (GMT), the vehicle interface control console, a ground interface with Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, gave an unexpected reading, NASA said.

The next launch is currently planned for no earlier than Friday, February 25 at 10:09 am (GMT), from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, it said.

Engineers from NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation are trying to solve the technical issue that arose during the launch attempt.

Glory Earth observation satellite data will help scientists to improve the ability to predict Earth's future environment and to distinguish human-induced climate change from natural climate variability.