After a series of aborted attempts, the launch of the MetOp-A satellite has been postponed indefinitely, Eumetsat, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the European Space Agency, announced July 20.

The July 19 attempt to launch the satellite aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, the third in as many days, was halted 3 minutes and 5 seconds before the scheduled liftoff due to a problem with the Soyuz ground support system at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The first attempt July 17 was aborted due to an incorrect parameter value on the ground system of the launcher, while a July 18 countdown was ended after the fuelling sequence of the launcher was restarted and led to unexpected telemetry readings due to the partially fuelled configuration.

The satellite and the launch vehicle will be returned to the launcher integration facility, and a new operations plan will be developed to determine the new launch date.

MetOp-A is intended to provide global data that improves forecasts of severe weather and disaster mitigation and will also contribute to the monitoring of the climate and the environment.