MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: A state commission will gather on Friday morning to make the final decision on whether to postpone the launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket with the Spektr-RG space telescope, scheduled for July 12, Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos said.
"Launch preparations of the Proton-M carrier rocket, comprising the DM-03 booster and the Spektr-RG spacecraft, and the work to fix the problems earlier detected in the carrier rocket will continue until the state commission convenes early on July 12, 2019 and makes the final decision on whether the launch should take place or be postponed to a reserve date," the statement reads .
A Roscosmos source earlier told TASS that additional testing was to be carried out as part of Proton-M launch preparations. Later, the space corporation’s press service explained that the work was ordered due to concerns about the carrier rocket.
The launch of the Spektr-RG space observatory was initially scheduled for June 21 but it was canceled on its liftoff day. Roscosmos Deputy CEO for Space Systems Mikhail Khailov explained this decision by the problems that had emerged during a check of a non-reusable chemical power source on the space telescope.
The Spektr-RG is the joint Russian-German project intended to create a detailed map of the sky in the X-ray band. The space observatory will be scanning the sky in a broad energy band with high sensitivity and angular resolution.
