Russia scrubs launch of Resurs-P3 Earth-observing satellite

The Roscosmos State Corporation has scrubbed the launch of the Resurs-P No.3 Earth observation satellite, scheduled for Saturday, March 12, at 1:56 p.m. EST (18:56 GMT). The spacecraft was scheduled to lift off atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but the booster suffered a rare on-pad abort just about ten seconds prior to launch. The launch window was only ten seconds long, so any hold or abort results in an immediate scrub for the day. The cause of the abort is currently being investigated. “The automatic engine cutoff occurred during the lift-off of the Soyuz 2-1B carrier rocket with the Resurs-P No.3 remote-sensing satellite. The launch has been cancelled, the causes are being investigated,” a source at Roscosmos told RIA Novosti. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Insider - Mar 13)