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Facing up to the GSLV failure

In an unfortunate succession of failures, the day after India's latest and most powerful missile, Agni-III, failed in its maiden flight, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), lifting off with the Insat-4C communications satellite onboard, too came to grief. The GSLV's failure ended the Indian Space Research Organisation's long run of 12 successful launches in as many years from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Television footage showed graphic images of the GSLV suddenly veering off-course. Ground controllers then issued radio commands that set off explosive charges on the rocket to destroy it. The GSLV's lift-off had gone smoothly and the rocket majestically cleared the launch tower. The problem that doomed the rocket appeared soon afterwards. Going by what ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair subsequently told reporters, one of the rocket's four strap-ons malfunctioned and the rocket went uncontrollably off-course. Each GSLV strap-on is equipped with a Vikas engine, the technology for which ISRO acquired by participating in the development of France's Viking engine. The Viking and its derivatives were extensively used in Europe's Ariane launch vehicle. The Vikas too has successfully flown on India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the three previous flights of the GSLV. So a major design flaw in the engine is unlikely.

The malfunction on the latest GSLV flight, where one of the Vikas engines suddenly stopped producing any thrust, bears resemblance to the problem that occurred during the first attempt to launch the GSLV in March 2001. On that occasion, the automatic launch system found that one of the strap-ons was not producing adequate thrust and aborted the launch just one second before lift-off. The problem was traced to defective plumbing that reduced the flow of one of the liquid propellants to the Vikas engine. Could it be that a manufacturing defect of some sort or perhaps an unexpected component failure affected Monday's flight of the GSLV? This is the sort of question that the proposed high-level inquiry committee will no doubt address. The organisation's chairman is confident that the launcher's problems can be overcome and the rocket prepared for flight in a year's time. By then, hopefully, another major milestone would have been crossed. The indigenous cryogenic stage that has been under development for over 10 years is being prepared for its final ground tests. Once those tests are successfully completed, it can replace the Russian-made one that currently flies as the GSLV's third stage. The GSLV failure is not going to put ISRO off its stride. The next launch from Sriharikota will probably be of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carrying a high-resolution earth-viewing satellite, a small Indonesian satellite as well as the country's first attempt at a recoverable capsule. The future beckons - both for ISRO and the nation.

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