Live coverage: Soyuz launch from French Guiana delayed to Saturday

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana with Europe’s Sentinel 1B radar Earth observation satellite, France’s Microscope relativity probe and three CubeSats from Belgium, Italy and Denmark

13:59 SCRUB

Bad weather over the Guiana Space Center will keep the Soyuz rocket on the ground today, officials said.

Unacceptable high-altitude winds over the spaceport exceeded safety constraints for today's flight with five European satellites.

The launch has been rescheduled for 2102 GMT (5:02 p.m. EDT; 6:02 p.m. French Guiana time) Saturday, when weather conditions are forecast to be better.

07:34 Five European satellites ready for Soyuz flight to custom orbits

The term “direct flight” will go to new heights Friday with a four-hour flight by a Soyuz rocket and its Fregat upper stage to deliver five satellites to three distinct orbital destinations hundreds of miles above Earth.

The Russian Soyuz booster — crowned by a Fregat upper stage — is set for liftoff at 2102:13 GMT (5:02:13 p.m. EDT) Friday from the Guiana Space Center, a European-run spaceport on the northern shore of South America.

07:33 Norsat 1 grounded

Officials from the Norwegian Space Center are looking for another launch opportunity for a microsatellite designed to track ship traffic and study space weather after engineers determined it could not safely be attached to a Soyuz rocket set for liftoff Friday.

Officials decided to keep the Norsat 1 spacecraft on the ground earlier this month. Such a decision is rare so close to a launch.

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