The launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket has been postponed to fix shortcomings, but the situation will not affect the planned scientific program, Roscosmos said.
The state corporation noted that during scheduled pre-launch checks of all systems, a local inconsistency was diagnosed in the rocket's upper stage.
The launch of the carrier rocket has been postponed to fix shortcomings. However, the postponement will not affect the planned scientific program and all tasks will be completed.
Roscosmos Deputy General Director Ivan Danilov noted that the scope of work has already been determined.
After carrying out the necessary activities, we will continue preparing the carrier rocket as normal.
The launch of Proton-M with the Elektro-L No. 5 satellite was scheduled for 15:20 Moscow time on December 15. The rocket has been in operation since the mid-1960s. Since 2001, a modernized version of the rocket — Proton-M — has been putting payloads into orbit. The Angara family of rockets will replace the Protons.