By Tiffany Stecker

The launch of CryoSat-2 , the first ever satellite designed to measure the thickness of polar ice sheets, did not happen.

This news comes as a particular disappointment. The European Space Agency (ESA) -backed mission follows a failed attempt to launch the original CryoSat mission in 2005.

But just six days before the 25 February launch date, the reins were pulled once again. Technicians from Yuzhnoye, the manufacturer of CryoSat-2, decided that the fuel tank capacity and fuel gauge margins were not optimal for launching the satellite 700km into space.

“You know when you’re driving, and the fuel gauge shows that you are running out, but there is still enough fuel left, you’re touching in the red zone?” asked Dr Richard Francis, project manager for the mission. In this case, the crew deemed that fuel margin, or “red zone”, too narrow.

To create a larger margin, technicians will change the fuel mixture to a leaner formula to run more efficiently, said Dr Francis.

“The satellite is still safe, this is the important factor,” he said.

CryoSat-2 is designed to emit radar beams that ricochet off the surface of the ice, as well as ocean water surface. The difference in echo between the two is used to assess the thickness of the ice. While the ESA has mapped the extent of ice sheets for more than 15 years, the thickness of ice has never been mapped from space. Data on thickness would further understanding of changes in ice structure in relation to climate change.

On site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and at the ESA’s European Spacecraft Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, the mood was somber.

“As you can imagine, the news went down like a lead balloon here,” stated CryoSat campaign manager Bill Simpson on the ESA’s online launch diary.

The ESA hopes to finally launch the satellite four weeks from the original launch date, although no official announcement has been made. A team of experts will meet this week in Ukraine, where Yuzhnoye is based, to discuss the course of action to repair the satellite.

The 2005 failure was caused by a missing command from the onboard flight control system. When the main engine cut-off was to occur, the command was lost as the engine continued to operate until it ran out of fuel. Thus, the two parts of the satellite did not separate as planned, and the entire satellite crashed close to the North Pole.

More than four years later, the project has bloated to approximately €250m (£220m), according to Dr Duncan Wingham, lead investigator for the mission and professor of climate physics at University College London.

Yuzhnoye is unable to give a figure on the cost of reformulating CryoSat-2 before the next planned launch, said Oleg Ventskovsky, a representative from the company’s Brussels, Belgium office. He assured that the company would absorb all costs incurred. ESA is funded by European Union member states who contribute a percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the agency.

CryoSat was the first mission in the ESA’s Earth Explorers programme to be selected in 1999. Two other satellites have already been launched as part of the programme: the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission [ GOCE] to improve models of the Earth’s gravity fields was launched on 17 March last year, and the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission to measure moisture and salinity levels was launched on 2 November.

“Those of us who went through the failure the first time around are feeling a little bit nervous this time,” said Dr Wingham in an interview before the delay. “But I do hope that we don’t have to wait another five years to get this mission into space.”