The launch of a new meteorological satellite for Europe has had to be aborted.
The Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-1) satellite was scheduled to take off on an Ariane-5 launcher at 11.30 p.m. but the launch from Kourou in French Guyana has now been delayed for 24 hours.
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Ariane-5 with the Meteosat Second Generation satellite aboard on the launch pad
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The original launch was aborted just seven minutes from the final countdown when a warning light flashed in the command control centre. The problem has not yet been identified.
The MSG-1 will give meteorologists more accurate information about climate change, as well as extreme weather conditions such as cyclones and flash floods.
The European-built satellite will watch over the world's weather from a position 36,000kms above the earth's equator.
It is one of three expected to become operational over the next 12 years in a project costing a total of €1.3 billion.
Eumetsat, the agency which maintains meteorological satellites in 18 European countries including the UK, will control the device from a centre in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, Germany.
The MSG is designed to transmit 20 times more information than its predecessor, the Meteosat system.
PA