A technical problem has delayed Saturday`s lift-off from French Guiana of Europe`s heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket.

Space officials postponed the mission several minutes before launch from the Kourou spaceport. The rocket operator, Arianespace, said a problem had been encountered during the final preparations.

The heavy-lift vehicle was set to blast-off carrying its largest payload yet of two telecoms satellites weighing more than eight tonnes.

Arianespace said in a statement that it will set a new launch date on Sunday.
The rocket and its payload - the US-owned Spaceway 2 and Telkom 2, which will serve Southeast Asia and the Indian sub-continent - remain in a safe standby mode at the spaceport, it said.

Arianespace gave no details of the technical hitch. But according to the news agency Reuters, the delay stems from a problem on the launchpad.

Bbc news
sections: Hi-Tech