M A I N   N E W S

GSLV fails to take off

Sriharikota, March 28
The first experimental flight to carry a communication satellite that could have put India in the reckoning for a multibillion dollar business failed to take off today after one of the motors caught fire seconds after ignition.

A red-orange mixture of flames engulfed the tail-end of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D1) as the countdown ended at 3.47 p.m. and the mission team, including ISRO chief K. Kasturirangan, waited anxiously for a smooth lift-off.

As one of the four strap-on motors caught fire the launch, shown live on Doordarshan, was called off and a visibily disappointed Dr Kasturirangan described it as a “setback”. The ISRO team would have to sit down to find out what went wrong and it would need to be corrected, said a commentator.

In the first developmental test flight, the three-stage GSLV was to place a 1540 kg experimental satellite, GSAT-1, in geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

ISRO chief K. Kasturirangan was among the scientists present at the mission control room who were disappointed at the aborted launch.

GSLV’s success would allow India to bid for launching other countries’ satellites into space in the multibillion dollar global business.

The three-stage GSLV-D1, India’s first satellite launch vehicle using the cryogenic engine (the third stage), is the culmination of a 10-year-long ambitious effort by Indian scientists which had cost the exchequer as much as Rs 1400 crore. Weighing 401 tonnes and 50 metres in height, GSLV-D1 in its trial flight was to inject the experimental satellite into a geosynchronus transfer orbit 1040 seconds after the take-off.

The GSLV, which has adopted technologies from the earlier successful polar satellite launch vehicle, is special as it incorporates a cryogenic stage for the first time.

The cryogenic stage, acquired from Russia, uses extremely low temperature liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen which allow it to have greater thrust per kilogram of fuel. The experimental satellite was to be placed at an orbit above the equator with a rotation period exactly similar to earth.

The GSLV project involved participation of about 150 organisations belonging to both public and private sectors. A successful launch would have validated its various stages. PTI