venture led by Boeing was on track to make its second commercial launch of a satellite around mid-March.
The Sea Launch consortium uses a converted oil rig in the south Pacific Ocean as its launch pad, taking advantage of the Earth's relatively high rotation speed at the equator to allow heavier payloads -- up to five tons (5,080 kilograms) -- to be carried.
"The launch is expected to be between March 11 and March 13," Eduard Kuznetsov, deputy head of the agency, told Reuters. "Everything will depend on the weather and favorable conditions, [but] the blastoff may take place on March 11."
Ukraine's Yuzhnoye rocket design bureau, one of several Sea Launch partners, makes Zenit 3-SL three-stage rocket boosters for the project.
The next 200-foot (60-meter) rocket will carry satellites for international telecom consortium ICO Global Communications Ltd.
The launch has been delayed from February 19. Officials have said the delay is not due to technical problems, but declined to elaborate.
Ex-Soviet republic Ukraine inherited an advanced aerospace sector after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and is eager to establish itself in the potentially lucrative international commercial space industry.
Sea Launch, which also includes Norway's Kvaerner (KVI.OL) and Russia's Energiya rocket plant, has so far carried out one commercial and one test launch.
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