The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-tiangong-1-space-lab-to-fall-to-earth-this-weekend-european-space-agency-126654">European Space Agency </a>has been forced to postpone a satellite launch scheduled for Tuesday after a problem in the launch sequence, the firm in charge of the launch said.

The satellite, part of an ESA programme to study planets and stars outside the solar system, had been within 90 minutes of launching from Kourou in French Guiana when the problem came up, said Arianespace.

"During final countdown operations for Flight VS23, the Soyuz launcher's automated sequence was interrupted at 1 hour 25 minutes before liftoff," said the statement, adding that a new launch date would be announced as soon as possible.

The launcher and payload were put in "a fully safe standby mode", the statement added.

The mission of the European Space Agency's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (<a href="https://www.wionews.com/edge/out-of-the-world-space-expeditions-11183">CHEOPS</a>) is to study the stars where planets have already been identified.

It will try to understand what they are made of as part of the search to identify not just extraterrestrial life but to understand our own origins.

The European Space Agency has been forced to postpone a satellite launch scheduled for Tuesday after a problem in the launch sequence, the firm in charge of the launch said.

The European Space Agency has been forced to postpone a satellite launch scheduled for Tuesday after a problem in the launch sequence, the firm in charge of the launch said. The satellite, part of an ESA programme to study planets and stars outside the solar system, had been within 90 minutes of launching from Kourou in French Guiana when the problem came up, said Arianespace. "During final countdown operations for Flight VS23, the Soyuz launcher's automated sequence was interrupted at 1 hour 25 minutes before liftoff," said the statement, adding that a new launch date would be announced as soon as possible. The launcher and payload were put in "a fully safe standby mode", the statement added. The mission of the European Space Agency's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is to study the stars where planets have already been identified. It will try to understand what they are made of as part of the search to identify not just extraterrestrial life but to understand our own origins.

Glitch 'delays European CHEOPS satellite launch'

As Barbie turned 60 this year, it decided to take its doll-manufacturing business a notch higher and launching <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/astronaut-football-player-barbie-turns-60-with-career-dolls-and-role-models-202121">a new range of dolls</a>, including career women and role models, to inspire young girls.&nbsp;

In a bid to encourage girls to consider careers in the space industry, Barbie's new doll dons the avatar of Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Cristoforetti Barbie has been manufactured in collaboration with toy-making giant Mattel and the European Space Agency.

Cristoforetti was the first Italian woman in space, she hoped the collaboration ''will help young girls and boys to dream about their future without limits," news agency Reuters reported.

The partnership is part of Barbie's ongoing Dream Gap Project, which the brand says is aimed at challenging young girls' beliefs about their possible futures.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the global doll-manufacturing giant, Mattel in March unveiled new-look, high-achieving Barbies that included an astronaut, a football player and a news anchor.

A series of successful women have also had dolls made in their image to mark six decades of Barbie, news agency AFP reported.&nbsp;

<a href="http://wionew.com/sports/now-a-barbie-doll-named-after-indian-gymnast-dipa-karmakar-202588">Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar</a> was among the twenty female icons chosen by &nbsp;Mattel for a special edition Barbie dolls to celebrate the 60th birthday of the iconic character.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

As Barbie turned 60 this year, it decided to take its doll-manufacturing business a notch higher and launching a new range of dolls, including career women and role models, to inspire young girls.

As Barbie turned 60 this year, it decided to take its doll-manufacturing business a notch higher and launching a new range of dolls, including career women and role models, to inspire young girls. In a bid to encourage girls to consider careers in the space industry, Barbie's new doll dons the avatar of Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Cristoforetti Barbie has been manufactured in collaboration with toy-making giant Mattel and the European Space Agency. Cristoforetti was the first Italian woman in space, she hoped the collaboration ''will help young girls and boys to dream about their future without limits," news agency Reuters reported. The partnership is part of Barbie's ongoing Dream Gap Project, which the brand says is aimed at challenging young girls' beliefs about their possible futures. To mark the 60th anniversary of the global doll-manufacturing giant, Mattel in March unveiled new-look, high-achieving Barbies that included an astronaut, a football player and a news anchor. A series of successful women have also had dolls made in their image to mark six decades of Barbie, news agency AFP reported. Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar was among the twenty female icons chosen by Mattel for a special edition Barbie dolls to celebrate the 60th birthday of the iconic character. (With inputs from agencies)

In a bid to encourage girls to think big, Barbie introduces doll on first Italian woman in space

Spacecraft launch seen in outer space timelapse

China's Tiangong-1 space lab is likely to fall to Earth sometime between Friday and Monday and shower debris over an area covering thousands of square kilometres (miles), though the risk to people will be very small, the European Space Agency aid.

ESA said the 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) space station is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere somewhere between the 43rd north and south parallels, roughly between the latitudes of London in Britain and Wellington in New Zealand.

It said a more precise forecast for where Tiangong-1 will come down will only be possible from one day before re-entry, and even then any predictions could be off by thousands of kilometres.

But the agency added that the probability of a person being hit by a piece of debris from Tiangong-1 was 10 million times smaller than the chance of being hit by lightning because a large part of the planet is covered by water or is uninhabited.

"In the history of spaceflight, no casualties due to falling space debris have ever been confirmed," ESA said in a blog post on its website.

The Chinese space programme, meanwhile, has forecast Tiangong-1 would fall to Earth between March 31 and April 4, according to a statement on its website dated Monday.

ESA is hosting a test campaign by the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, an international governmental forum, during which participants pool their predictions of the time window for re-entry and related data they collect to improve the accuracy of future predictions.

The Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1", China's first space lab, was launched into orbit in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China's ambitious space programme, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023.

Tiangong-1 was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but China has repeatedly extended the length of its mission.

The delay of re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, which China said would happen in late 2017, had led some experts to suggest the space laboratory may be out of control. ESA said Tiangong-1 ceased functioning in March 2016 and scientists on Earth no longer appeared able to control it. A top Chinese engineer said earlier this year however that it was not out of control and did not pose a safety threat.&nbsp

Advancing China's space programme is a priority for President Xi Jinping, who has called for Beijing to become a global space power with both advanced civilian space flight and capabilities that strengthen national security. Beijing insists that its space programme is for peaceful purposes. The US Defense Department has said China's programme could be aimed at blocking adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

The space agency said a more precise forecast for where Tiangong-1 will come down will only be possible from one day before re-entry

China's Tiangong-1 space lab is likely to fall to Earth sometime between Friday and Monday and shower debris over an area covering thousands of square kilometres (miles), though the risk to people will be very small, the European Space Agency aid. ESA said the 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) space station is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere somewhere between the 43rd north and south parallels, roughly between the latitudes of London in Britain and Wellington in New Zealand. It said a more precise forecast for where Tiangong-1 will come down will only be possible from one day before re-entry, and even then any predictions could be off by thousands of kilometres. But the agency added that the probability of a person being hit by a piece of debris from Tiangong-1 was 10 million times smaller than the chance of being hit by lightning because a large part of the planet is covered by water or is uninhabited. "In the history of spaceflight, no casualties due to falling space debris have ever been confirmed," ESA said in a blog post on its website. The Chinese space programme, meanwhile, has forecast Tiangong-1 would fall to Earth between March 31 and April 4, according to a statement on its website dated Monday. ESA is hosting a test campaign by the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, an international governmental forum, during which participants pool their predictions of the time window for re-entry and related data they collect to improve the accuracy of future predictions. The Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace 1", China's first space lab, was launched into orbit in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China's ambitious space programme, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023. Tiangong-1 was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but China has repeatedly extended the length of its mission. The delay of re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, which China said would happen in late 2017, had led some experts to suggest the space laboratory may be out of control. ESA said Tiangong-1 ceased functioning in March 2016 and scientists on Earth no longer appeared able to control it. A top Chinese engineer said earlier this year however that it was not out of control and did not pose a safety threat. Advancing China's space programme is a priority for President Xi Jinping, who has called for Beijing to become a global space power with both advanced civilian space flight and capabilities that strengthen national security. Beijing insists that its space programme is for peaceful purposes. The US Defense Department has said China's programme could be aimed at blocking adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

China's Tiangong-1 space lab to fall to Earth this weekend: European Space Agency