The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope(GLAST) will be launched no earlier than next Wednesday, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced Thursday.
It is now being readied for the launch on a Delta 2 rocket sometime between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. EDT (1545-1740 GMT) on June 11 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida.
The most recent postponement comes because "additional time was needed to replace the rocket's flight termination system battery," which indicated a problem Wednesday, said NASA in a statement.
A series of launch delays have kept GLAST Earthbound. The original May 16 launch date was postponed due to equipment damage during the installation of the Delta 2's second stage.
Then Tuesday's launch was canceled after a flight readiness review. A Thursday launch plan was also delayed to Saturday, and then to Sunday.
The GLAST project is developed by government and academic researchers from the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden.
Scientists hope the new telescope worth some 690 million U.S. dollars can help uncover more cosmic sources of high-energy gamma rays than ever before, including black holes, pulsars and dark matter.
Source: Xinhua
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