New Date for Proton Launch of Astra 2G a Moving Target

We're still awaiting official word on a new launch date for the SES Astra 2G satellite, which was expected to liftoff atop a commercial Proton Nov. 28.

Managed by International Launch Services (ILS) of Reston, Va., the launch of Astra 2G was postponed owing to a balky gyro unit in the rocket's Briz-M upper stage.

Russian space agency Roscosmos says it is preparing to launch a Russian telecom satellite atop another Proton-M/Briz-M Dec. 16, and an industry source here says liftoff of the Astra 2G spacecraft isn't expected before Dec. 18, though ILS hasn't confirmed a new date.

On Tuesday Roscosmos spokeswoman Irina Zubareva said Astra 2G will launch Dec. 28, according to Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS.

In the meantime, a spare Briz-M gyro unit on-hand at the rocket's Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan is being swapped for the faulty one, which was removed and sent back to manufacturer NII KP in St. Petersburg last week, where ILS says it is undergoing a series of tests.

Assuming it launches in December, Astra 2G will mark the second ILS Proton launch this year. ILS had hoped to launch Inmarsat's second and third Global Xpress mobile communications satellites this year as well, though it looks like that won't be happening now until January and May next year, respectively.