A couple of days after the authorities called off its mission due to a leak in its second stage rocket , the 49-metre tall Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle (GSlV D5) still stands majestically at the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
A senior space engineer told The Pioneer that it would take another couple of days for transporting the vehicle back to the assembly line for a thorough study and analysis to find out the reasons behind the “strange” leak.
“The launch of the GSlV G5 depends on the seriousness of the leak. It may take even months if the leak is from the fuel tank in the second stage rocket. If that is the case, the vehicle may have to be de-stacked,” explained the engineer. De-stacking means the removal of all the stages like an overhauling. He said the cryogenic engine and the satellite would be removed from the launch vehicle and has to be assembled again after sorting out the defects.
“This is nothing but carelessness and irresponsibility,” Nambi Narayanan, who once headed the Cryogenic engine development programme of the ISRO, told The Pioneer. He said the second stage rocket was part of the Polar Satellite launch Vehicle, which is described by the ISRO as its trusted workhorse. “We had 25 successive successful launches with the PSlV. It is strange that such a vehicle developed leak at a crucial time,” Narayanan said.
The delay will upset ISRO’s future plans to launch communication and earth observation satellites. “Even if we get ready with communication satellites, we have to carry it to European Space Agency’s teleport at Kourou in French Guiana for the launch. We have to pay the exorbitant rate charged by ESA for launching the satellites from their facility,” said G Madhavan Nair, former chairman, ISRO.
The country is facing a severe shortage of transponders in the space which has affected many sectors like communications, telecommunications, health, rural development and education. “If only we develop our own cryogenic engine for launching heavy communication satellites into Geo Stationery Orbits at an altitude of 36000 km, we will be able to offer low cost communication and telecommunication services to the common man,” Nair said.
According to Prof C Venugopal, head of the department, electronics and communication engineering, Jawahar College of Engineering and Technology, Palakkad, telephone and mobile communications, Direct to Home TV services, internet services and data transfers will become cheaper only if communication satellites with more transponders are deployed in the space.
“Communication satellites can play a crucial role in universalising primary and higher education. For a country like India which faces acute shortage of quality teachers, communication satellites could play major role in bringing the services of eminent teachers in far off places to all villages through tele-education mode. We can open more number of Village Resource Centres so that rural people get all kind of information for quality life. The VRCs interconnected through satellite communication network can disseminate information on agriculture, marketing, health, climate and other details,” said Prof Venugopal, who was the project director of the Polar Satellite launch Vehicle Programme of the ISRO till 2011.