The launch of three Gonets-M communications satellites from the Plesetsk cosmodrome has been delayed over an additional check of a Soyuz-2 rocket after a fault was found in a similar carrier at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, a source in Russia’s Defense Ministry told TASS on Monday.

"In the wake of technical faults detected by Roscosmos specialists in a similar rocket during the preparations for a launch from the Guiana Space Center, the state commission has made a decision to hold additional checks of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket’s readiness for the launch," the source said.

A combat team of the Russian Defense Ministry at the Plesetsk spaceport is now checking the rocket’s systems and assemblies at the assembly and testing building. In case of a fault, it will be eliminated. The date of the launch will be determined by the state commission following the results of the checks, the source said.

A source in the domestic space industry told TASS earlier on Monday that the launch of three Gonets-M satellites atop a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket had been tentatively rescheduled from November 24 to December 3 over technical problems with the rocket.