14 DAY TRIAL // During the final preparations for the launch of the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft by a Soyuz-Fregat launcher, contamination was detected inside the launcher's fairing.
Starsem and ESA have therefore decided to carry out additional checks, which will postpone the originally scheduled launch date of Wednesday, 26 October by several days.
A new launch date will be announced shortly.
Venus Express will take only 163 days, a little more than five months, to reach Venus. Then, in April 2006, the adventure of exploration will begin with Venus finally welcoming a spacecraft, a fully European one, more than ten years after humankind paid the last visit.
The set of seven instruments on board Venus Express represents an unprecedented diagnostic package to study the thick and enigmatic atmosphere of Venus - an atmosphere so dense and so intimately coupled with the planet's surface, that studying it will help provide clues about the features, status and evolution of the entire planet.
Venus Express is an almost identical twin spacecraft to Mars Express, but adapted to operate in the hot and harsh environment around Venus. It was built by EADS Astrium, Toulouse (France), leading a group of industrial partners throughout Europe. Completing the spacecraft took less than four years from concept to launch, making it the fastest-built ESA scientific satellite ever.