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India To Relaunch Failed Satellite Rocket April 18
India will relaunch its first major commercial satellite later this month after the previous attempt was aborted, dealing a blow to the country's ambitious space programme. A senior space official said Saturday the relaunch was expected to take place on April 18 from the previous site at Sriharikota in the southern Andhra Pradesh state. The inaugural flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was aborted last month moments before take-off apparently due to an engine malfunction. The failure was widely perceived as a serious setback for India's hopes of joining an elite club of nations in the commercial satellite launch market, but Indian space scientists played down the incident. "The relaunch is slated for April 18 at 3.45 p.m (1015 GMT)," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesman S. Krishnamurthy told AFP. "The window for the launch extends up to April 25," he said. The three-stage, 49-metre (161 foot) high GSLV -- the most technologically challenging project so far by India's space programme -- was meant to carry a 1.54 tonne experimental satellite, GSAT-1, into orbit on March 28. Preliminary investigations showed one of the four strap-on booster rockets failed to achieve the required level of thrust, resulting in the failure of the flight. "Based on the detailed analysis of the data ... it has now been established that the reason for one of the strap-on boosters not developing the required thrust was due to a defective plumbing in the oxidiser flow of the engine," an ISRO statement said. The statement said the fire which spread over one of the strap-on boosters was due to the "burning of foam insulation pads" and was incidental. "It did not cause any damage to the vehicle. It has been decided to provide additional flame protection for these insulation pads ... All other systems of the vehicle are found to be healthy," it said. The ISRO had invested 10 years and 14 billion rupees (305 million dollars) in developing the rocket. The maiden flight in 1979 of the very first model in the series -- the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) -- failed due to a jammed valve in the second stage of the rocket. On that occasion, the ISRO bounced back and two subsequent SLV flights in 1980 and 1981 successfully placed small, 40-kilogram (18 pounds) "Rohini" satellites into orbit. The next generation Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), which was to carry a 150 kilogram satellite, got off to an even worse start. The first two ASLVs, launched in 1987 and 1988, plunged into the Bay of Bengal just minutes after take-off. Those disasters prompted a four-year delay, as ISRO scientists and engineers went back to the drawing board and re-evaluated the entire rocket design. The tests resumed in 1992, when an ASLV carrier successfully placed its satellite payload in orbit, as did another mission in 1994. The gremlins returned with the development of the Polar Launch Satellite Vehicle (PSLV), which was powerful enough to carry a one tonne satellite. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
India Aborts Launch of Powerful New GEO Launcher Sriharikota (AFP) March 28, 2001India's hopes of launching commercial satellites were dashed Wednesday when the launch of a powerful new rocket was aborted as flames began licking their way up the three-stage rocket seconds after the engines were ignited at 3:47pm (1017 GMT). Officials at the Sriharikota launch site in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh declared the launch postponed indefinitely. India In High-Stakes Bid To Join Global Satellite Launch Club 
Sriharikota (AFP) March 27 - 2001India will make its bid for membership of the exclusive global club of commercial satellite launchers on Wednesday with the long-awaited maiden mission of its newly-developed delivery rocket. The blandly-named Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is the most technologically challenging project so far undertaken by the Indian space programme and carries the hopes and aspirations of thousands of scientists, engineers and industrialists.
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