Satellite is still inside fourth stage: Isro chief

SRIHARIKOTA: After 39 successful launches of its PSLV rockets, Isro had the first taste of failure in 24 years. PSLV-C39, which lifted off from Sriharikota could not deliver the IRNSS-H1satellite into orbit as the heat shield - the tip of the rocket where the satellite was housed - failed to open.

The last stage of the rocket reached the sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit, but the mission failed as the satellite got ejected within the closed heat shield which was programmed to open three minutes and 23 seconds into the flight. Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar announced that the PSLV-C39 mission was unsuccessful.“All stages of the mission performed well, but the satellite is still inside the fourth stage," he said.

“We could see the satellite circling in its orbit along with the heat shield. We have to check the heat shield separation command and see what went wrong,“ Kumar said. The failure has come at a time when Isro is banking heavily on PSLV for at least two important future projects -the second mission to Mars and Chandrayaan-2, which will put a lander on the moon.While the second mission to Mars is still in the planning stage, work on Chandrayaan-2 has reached advanced stages with the development of the lander complete. “We have to see how this will impact commercial launches,“ Isro chairman Kumar said.

Some Isro scientists told TOI that they may have to take a relook at the technology used for the heat shield separation. Thursday's failure is a setback for Isro which attempted to augment the country's indigenous navigation services. IRNSS-1H, the eighth in the NavIC constellation, was to replace IRNSS-1A, the first satellite in the constellation whose rubidium atomic clocks stopped functioning. The clocks are a critical component in providing accurate locational data.

Isro officials said the failure will not affect the indigenous navigation satellite network, as four satellites are enough to provide services.Isro has six satellites in orbit that are fully functional.