The European Space Agency (ESA) on Feb. 3 announced another delay in the inaugural flight of the Vega smallsatellite launcher, saving the launch is now set for Feb. 13 from Europe's Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. The four-day delay would not in itself be significant but for the fact that it now places the launch at the extreme limit of what is permissible before the Vega team must stand down for at least a month, and likely longer. Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo carrier is scheduled for launch to the international space station on March 9 a date that cannot be modified without upsetting the occasionally complex traffic management at the station, for which NASA is the general contractor.
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