KIEV (Reuters) - Sea Launch, a satellite launch venture led by Boeing Co, has delayed the first commercial launch of a rocket from a floating platform until October 10, a Ukrainian aerospace official said on Wednesday.
``The launch of our Zenit-3SL (booster rocket) is set for October 10, or almost two weeks later than the initial date of September 28,'' Yury Alexeyenko, spokesman for rocket design bureau KB Yuzhnoye, told Reuters by telephone.
Speaking from Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine, he said the launch was delayed at Boeing's request, but gave no details.
Alexeyenko said the Ukrainian-made Zenit-3SL booster would blast into space from a platform in the Pacific Ocean, carring a communication satellite owned by U.S.-based Hughes Electronics, part of General Motors.
The remote launch site takes advantage of the earth's high rotational speed at the equator, allowing for heavier payloads, of up to five tons.
``We hope the launch will be successful and it will dispel finally any doubts about Zenit's reliability,'' Alexeyenko said.
He was referring to concerns by Western partners after a Zenit-2 rocket crashed in September 1998, destroying 12 Globalstar satellites worth $190 million.
Ukrainian space officials said earlier this year that the ex-Soviet state had been already ordered to produce 18 Zenit-3SL rocket boosters for the Sea Launch project.
The project has been developed over four years at a cost of about $500 million.
A successful test flight was made in March when a 200-foot (60 meter) rocket with a five-ton dummy payload was launched.
Boeing owns 40 percent of the consortium and partners include RSC Energia of Russia, KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine and Norwegian Kvaerner.
Alexeyenko said the company was in talks with Boeing on launching its Zenit-3SLs not only from floating platforms but also from Kazakhstan's cosmodrome of Baikonur.
``We expect that Boeing will be interested,'' he said.
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