Europe's Ariane 6 Space Launch Postponed Again

Europe's Ariane 6 space launch postponed again

(Reuters) - The first commercially operational launch of Europe's Ariane 6 heavy rocket was postponed for a second time on Monday, operator Arianespace said on its YouTube channel.

The launch, designed to carry a French military observation satellite to orbit, had been due to take place at lunchtime at Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, after a previous attempt scheduled for February 26 also had to be called off. 

Europe's newest uncrewed rocket had staged a partially successful inaugural flight on July 9 last year, carrying out a series of trials but leaving its upper stage in orbit after a software glitch that officials later described as fixable.

In its first operational mission, the Ariane 62 version of the launcher is due to carry the CSO-3 optical and infrared satellite into orbit for the French Air Force's Space Command.

Although carrying a military payload, the journey is considered a commercial one by European authorities because it is the first being handled for Ariane 6 by operator Arianespace, rather than the European Space Agency which oversaw development.

No new launch date or reason for the latest postponement were immediately available from Arianespace.

Ariane 6 is built by ArianeGroup, co-owned by Airbus and Safran.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Mark Heinrich and Nia Williams)