ISRO to go ahead despite setback

Though Saturday’s aborted communication satellite “GSAT-5P” carried 24 C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders to augment the capacity of the Indian communication satellites already in orbit, the ISRO will be launching “GSAT-8” with 24 Ku band transponders on board the Ariane vehicle of the European Space Agency in French Guyana in March/April 2011, Radhakrishnan said.

Sixty-four of the 67 transponders now leased out by the ISRO to commercial customers were in the more powerful Ku band. The next “GSAT-8” launch should considerably help to augment capacities for service providers.

Further, in the next three to four months, the ISRO will launch smaller satellites from here on board a “Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)” with 12 “Extended C-band transponders.”

That will also help offset Saturday’s loss, he said. These will be followed by communication satellites, “GSAT-10” and “GSAT-9.”

On the GSLV front, Radhakrishnan said the ISRO planned a series of ground tests during 2011 in the wake of steps to redesign the indigenous cryogenic engine it used in the third stage after last April’s failure.

Six of the seven cryogenic engines got from Russia have been used so far. “Our seeking more cryogenic engines from them will depend on how we develop our indigenous cryogenic engine,” he said.

The ISRO plans its next GSLV flight by 2011-end or early 2012, after a thorough study of the present failures.

The space body’s forthcoming flights in 2011 will be PSLV-centric that has proved its versatility internationally.

The next PSLV flight from Sriharikota, planned for early February 2011, will carry three satellites “Resource Sat-II,” a “youth satellite” built by students at Moscow University and the ISRO, besides a third one built by Singapore University.

The GSLV launch vehicle required for the ISRO’s ambitious “Chandrayaan II” (Moon Mission) programme, planned for 2013-14, will also be reviewed now thoroughly. The ISRO is working with Russia on “Chandrayaan II” with “India providing the orbiter and the rover, and they providing the lunar lander,” he explained.