ESA Ariane 5 with the Automated Transfer Vehicle Is Postponed

Ariane 5 mission with Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle has been postponed following a hold during the final countdown at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

A "red" indication for the launch site stopped the countdown at just prior to 4 minutes before the scheduled liftoff.

Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said that according to initial indications, there was erroneous data concerning the launcher's fueling, which resulted in the hold.

As this mission has a precise launch slot, the hold forced tonight's postponement.

Another attempt will likely be made on Wednesday, Arianespace Chairman Jean-Yves Le Gall said from the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana via an Internet videocast immediately after the aborted lift-off.

"There's a 90-percent chance we'll try again tomorrow," Le Gall later told journalists.

The mission was halted when a red warning light indicated a problem the fueling system.

Designed to supply mankind's nearly 400-tonne outpost in orbit, the Johannes Kepler - the largest payload ever taken aloft by the ESA - will bring water, air, food, spare parts and experimental hardware to the ISS.

If successful, the launch will be the 200th in the European space programme.