New launch date set for GOCE satellite

PARIS, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it has set a revised launch date for its GOCE -- Gravity Field and steady-state Ocean Circulations Explorer -- satellite.

The ESA said the satellite is scheduled to lift off Oct. 27.

The 16-foot-long satellite was to have been launched Sept. 10 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia and placed into orbit about 175 miles above the Earth. That launch was scrubbed when an anomaly was identified in one of the launcher's guidance and navigation systems.

The satellite is designed to map Earth's gravity field in unprecedented detail.

"Russian launcher authorities are completing the investigation of the Breeze KM (launcher's) failure and implementing the related corrective measures," the ESA said in a statement. "Awaiting the final outcome of the failure investigations and the replacement of the affected units, the GOCE team has begun preparatory activities in line with the proposed launch date."