Indian Space Research Organisation’s much-awaited launch of the Geo Synchronous launch Vehicle (GSlV) powered by the indigenously designed and developed cryogenic engine scheduled for Monday was called off one hour before the lift-off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, 90 km north of Chennai.
ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters that the decision to call off the launch was taken because of a leak in the second stage of the GSlV. “The countdown was progressing well. But we noticed a leak in the fuel system of the second stage of the vehicle and hence decided to call off the launch,” he said. Radhakrishnan said the new date of launch would be decided after a thorough assessment and analysis of the cause of the leak. “We will also decide the future course of actions to be taken for further preparation of the launch. The vehicle GSlV D5 is being moved back to the assembly line to drain out the entire fuel from the second stage,” he said.
The GSlV D5 mission was scheduled to deploy a 1982 kg advanced communication satellite (GSAT 14) into the Geo Stationary Orbit. The uniqueness of today’s mission was the indigenously designed and developed cryogenic engine which was to power the GSlV. The success of this mission would have made India a major player in the business of international commercial satellite launching.
“The decision to postpone the launch of the GSlV D5 is yet another setback for ISRO’s dreams to graduate into the big league of space faring nations. It is a matter of concern. The fact that the second stage of the GSlV vehicle is leaking does not augur well for the country. It may take months for the space agency to find out the reasons and rectify it,” said a leading space scientist.