PARIS, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency said Tuesday the launch of its re-supply mission to the International Space Station has been delayed for a day by a technical problem.
The scheduled Tuesday launch from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, was aborted by an instrumentation glitch giving erroneous data on fuel tank levels, Arianspace, builder of the rocket, reported.
The next launch opportunity is Wednesday at 4:50 p.m. EST, the ESA said.
The Ariane 5 rocket was to boost the Automated Transfer Vehicle 2 -- at more than 22 tons the heaviest European spacecraft ever built -- into orbit for a rendezvous with the ISS originally scheduled for Feb. 23, SPACE.com reported.
The robotic cargo ship is one of an international fleet of unmanned spacecraft intended to keep space station crews stocked with supplies when NASA retires its space shuttle fleet later this year, SPACE.com said.
