Dubai satellite launch delayed, new date announced

Dubai satellite launch delayed, new date announced

The launch of DMSat-1 has been postponed until Sunday, due to a surge in voltage, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced.

The Dubai Municipality and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) were all set to launch DMSat-1 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10.07am on Saturday. It will instead now be launched at 10.07am tomorrow.

The Russian Soyuz rocket was to blast off to space with 38 foreign satellites on board.

The rocket would have launched satellites from more than half a dozen Asian, Arab and European countries, as well as Canada and Brazil.

Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin said, “The launch was postponed after a surge in voltage was detected.

"We decided not to take the risk,” Rogozin told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Satellite to monitor source of air pollutants

The miniature environment monitoring satellite will detect the source of air pollutants and concentration of dust and its impact on public health in the UAE.

Weighing only 15kg, DMSat-1 can perform tasks done by much larger satellites.

A team of specialised engineers and project supervisors from the MBRSC has been posted at the launch site at Baikonur since February 25.

The satellite was placed on