Technical difficulties have delayed the planned launch next week of the European Space Agency's largest rocket, the Ariane 5, writes Dick Ahlstrom, Science Editor.
The September 30th launch would have been the second attempt to launch an Ariane 5, a heavy-lift rocket which will be used to carry aloft components of the proposed International Space Station. The first, Ariane 501, was destroyed in a spectacular explosion in June 1996 after a malfunction caused it to go off course. ESA controllers now hope to launch Ariane 502 on October 15th "at the earliest".