Launch postponed for Soyuz rocket with 38 foreign satellites

Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the launch was delayed after a surge in voltage was detected.

The Soyuz spacecraft with the Arktika-M satellite for monitoring the climate and environment in the Arctic, blasts off from the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan February 28, 2021.  (via REUTERS)

The launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket with 38 foreign satellites on board has been postponed until Monday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.

The launch of satellites from more than half a dozen Asian, Arab and European countries, as well as Canada and Brazil, was originally scheduled for 0607 GMT on Saturday.

It was initally postponed until Sunday, but Roscosmos later said it would take place Monday.

Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the launch was delayed after a surge in voltage was detected.

"Having heard reports from the work managers, the State Commission decided to conduct the launch on the morning of March 22, 2021," Roscosmos said in a later statement.

The rocket was due to place in orbit 38 satellites from 18 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy and Brazil.

Among them are the Challenge-1, the first satellite made completely in Tunisia, which was created by the Telnet telecommunications group.