March 3 (Reuters) - The first commercially operational

launch of Europe's Ariane 6 heavy rocket was postponed for a

second time on Monday, operator Arianespace said on its YouTube

channel.

The launch, designed to carry a French military observation

satellite to orbit, had been due to take place at lunchtime at

Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, after a previous

attempt scheduled for February 26 also had to be called off.

Europe's newest uncrewed rocket had staged a partially

successful inaugural flight on July 9 last year, carrying out a

series of trials but leaving its upper stage in orbit after a

software glitch that officials later described as fixable.

In its first operational mission, the Ariane 62 version of the

launcher is due to carry the CSO-3 optical and infrared

satellite into orbit for the French Air Force's Space Command.

Although carrying a military payload, the journey is

considered a commercial one by European authorities because it

is the first being handled for Ariane 6 by operator Arianespace,

rather than the European Space Agency which oversaw development.

No new launch date or reason for the latest postponement

were immediately available from Arianespace.

Ariane 6 is built by ArianeGroup, co-owned by Airbus

and Safran.