The Ariane rocket will be rolled back for testing
The launch of the UK's Skynet 5B military communications satellite from French Guiana has been delayed.
The spacecraft's Ariane rocket has developed an electronic problem in one of its solid fuel boosters and will be rolled back to an inspection shed.
The flight, originally timed for Friday night, is not now expected to take place until Monday at the earliest.
The £3.6bn Skynet project is designed to give British commanders access to more information, much faster.
"We tried to understand what's going on [in the electronic equipment] but unfortunately we did not succeed," explained Jean-Yves Le Gall from Arianespace, the company which runs the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
"We are now taking the launch vehicle back to the Final Assembly Building where we will investigate the equipment and replace it."
The countdown was stopped six hours, two minutes and 34 seconds before the scheduled lift-off.
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