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GSLV makes a comeback

After the failure a year ago when the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) broke up just a minute after lift-off from Sriharikota, this time around the Indian Space Research Organisation could savour, as one of its senior scientists put it, “sweet success.” The committee that went into last year’s GSLV failure concluded that the problem probably arose from a manufacturing defect in a key component that escaped subsequent scrutiny, and recommende d stricter control over fabrication, inspection, and acceptance procedures for rocket parts. ISRO has clearly taken this recommendation to heart and on Sunday evening, some 17 minutes after the GSLV soared into the skies from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, the rocket had deposited the Insat-4CR communications satellite safely in orbit. That a replacement for the one lost on the GSLV last year was built and launched so quickly is an indication of how important communication satellites have now become for the country. The Insat satellite system currently provides over 190 transponders that receive and retransmit radio signals, and ISRO expects to raise that number to 500 in five years’ time. With more direct-to-home TV services likely, the demand for transponders in the part of the radio spectrum known as the Ku-band is bound to shoot up. ISRO plans to increase Ku-band capacity on the Insat system from the present 40-odd transponders to 210-plus over the next five years. The Insat-4CR, equipped with 12 Ku-band transponders, is part of that capacity build-up.

Sunday’s launch was ISRO’s third this year from Sriharikota and two more are planned for the current year, making 2007 the busiest year for India’s sole spaceport. Hitherto, there have been just one or two launches a year from Sriharikota, and the quickened pace of launching is a reflection of the greater international acceptability of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse of the Indian rocket programme. The PSLV provided a dedicated launch for the Italian satellite AGILE in April this year and the Israelis too have selected the rocket to carry one of their earth-viewing satellites. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that the organisation would strive to carry out five launches a year as it tries to secure a part of the international market for carrying satellites into space. But in order to compete successfully in the highly lucrative global market for launching communication satellites, ISRO needs the more powerful GSLV Mark-III, which is currently expected to fly in 2009. The Indian space agency must therefore do its utmost to make sure that the development of this rocket proceeds as scheduled.

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