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Freak failure causes GSLV to
fail destroying most sophisticated INSAT-4C
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The program was not insured
and loss of time and equipment more than actual loss
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ISRO plans to launch another
more sophisticated satellite later this year
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The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) failed to place the most
sophisticated satellite it has created as the rocket carrying the INSAT-4C
veered off its trajectory due to a strap-on motor failure forcing controllers
to abort the mission and destruct the rocket. The rocket Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was to have placed INSAT 4-C with 12 high-power
Ku-band transponders in a geo synchronous transfer orbit to provide
direct-to-home television services, facilitate video picture transmission, and
digital satellite news for the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Remarkably,
in a total of 21 launches, the ISRO has failed only 5 times and this is the
first failure in 13 years, after the failure of the PSLV-D1 in September, 1993.
Strangely, the satellite was not insured and the Government has to absorb the
Rs. 256 crore (USD 55 million) expenses. While most papers seemed focused on
this lapse, the bigger loss is time, morale, and television and video
infrastructure. Traditionally, the ISRO uses the French satellite service to
launch the INSAT series but continued successes seemed to have encouraged it to
consider using its own launch services. In fact, the ISRO has placed satellites
in Geo synchronous orbit.
In a nation where failure is not acceptable and the pressure to show success,
if not achieve success is high, this loss to ISRO is significant. A somber ISRO
Director Madhavan Nair said that this failure “comes after eleven continuous
successful launches” almost apologizing for the failure. Nair asserted that
“There was nothing wrong with the GSLV or the SLP. There is no relation between
the weight of the satellite and the rocket failure. We have been upgrading the
payload capacity systematically over the years.” He vowed to “find a solution
for the problem” after the scientists “pinpoint what went wrong” based on “data
and video.” Nair also revealed that the ISRO is building another heavier
INSAT-4 series satellite and “will have a successful launch within a year” from
Kourou in French Guiana. India plans to enter the satellite launch business in
a big way to
earn at least USD 400 million a year.
But this is where the nation needs to mature and grow. Instead of harping on
the failure and pin the blame, it needs to find what caused the failures of the
GSLV and the
Agni-III launches and fix the process to achieve higher results in the
future. Since most of the politicians are hardly erudite and the media focused
on sensationalizing events, the attention is directed towards the failure and
the lack of insurance. The scientists themselves need to look beyond and the
bureaucracy needs to help them set their sights forward. Most importantly, the
political class should not politicize this event and instead try to chalk out a
clear roadmap to the ISRO.
Scientists and engineers thrive on encouragement—monetary, consistency, and
facilities. The focus should be on getting them those that drive them to higher
ground.
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