Navigation satellite launch fails after snag

In a rare failure, Isro’s proven launch vehicle, the PSLV, was unsuccessful in its mission to inject IRNSS-1H navigation satellite into the desired orbit.

The lift-off was perfect, the ignition of all the four stages were perfect, even the separation of the first three stages were perfect, but in the fourth stage, prior to placing the satellite, the heat shield did not separate.

The satellite can come out only if the heat shields gets separated.

The PSLV has seen 41 consecutive successful missions after a failure in its maiden developmental flight in 1993.

The rocket took off at 7 pm from the Second Launch Pad at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range after a successful 29-hour countdown.

The next course of action is still unclear. Also, it is not known whether the satellite would be protected or not.

Unsuccessful

Soon after the launch, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said: “The mission was unsuccessful. The reason is that the rocked heat shield could not open and separate.”

When asked about the impact on getting commercial launch projects, Kumar said the issue has to be studied. “The only problem is that the heat shield did not get separated,” he said.

The IRNSS-1H, India’s eighth navigational satellite, was a back-up for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, as its three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning.

This constellation was named ‘NavIC’ (Navigation with Indian Constellation) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The NavIC system has many uses, including for fishermen venturing into the sea, guiding merchant ships to navigate, tracking of railway movement and alerting road users near unmanned level crossings.

Also, for the first time, the private sector was actively involved in assembling and testing of a satellite unlike earlier where its role was limited to supplying components.