7/16/2004

Companies in this story Telesat Canada Articles in related categories Satellite

KOUROU, French Guiana - Telesat's Anik F2 did not, in fact, blast off last night, as reported earlier today. The press release, celebrating the launch, was mistakenly sent out this morning by the company.

What really happened is that bad weather postponed Anik F2's launch until tonight. It was delayed until Friday evening at 8:43 p.m. (ET) because of a storm closing in on the south Atlantic launch pad last night.

The final countdown was stopped at 16 minutes before the planned main engine ignition. The countdown was subsequently restarted in order to carry out the final pre-launch actions in the event of a last-minute weather improvement, but the conditions remained "red," preventing the liftoff within the evening launch window.
 
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