Post-failed mission, Isro to 'resume satellite launches by December

HIGHLIGHTS

• Isro will launch either Cartosat-2 series remote sensing satellite or the replacement satellite IRNSS-1I by Nov or Dec.
• On Aug 31, Isro’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C39) couldn't deliver the 1.4-tonne IRNSS-1H in the geo-synchronous orbit as its heat shield didn't get separated.

NEW DELHI: After suffering a setback because of the unsuccessful launch of its navigation satellite IRNSS-1H+ on August 31, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will resume satellite launches by December.

The space agency will schedule its next launch mission after a fact-finding committee, appointed to find the exact cause of the glitch+ in the heat separation mechanism of PSLV C39 rocket that carried navigation satellite IRNSS-1H, submits its report "soon".

Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said, "We will resume launches by November or December."

Echoing the chairman, Dr K Sivan, director of Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) told TOI, "We will launch either Cartosat-2 series remote sensing satellite or the replacement satellite IRNSS-1I by November or December. We are yet to finalise which of the two satellites will be launched first."

Dr Sivan said the probe committee was "supposed to submit the report by 10th of this month". "But the committee wants some more time as it wants to review some more results (flight data) before coming to any conclusion. We are expecting the report next week," he said.

When asked if the IRNSS-1H mission was insured, a source in Isro told TOI, "The missions are launched from the government's money. As these (rockets and satellites) are government properties, they are not insured."

TIO(timesofindia)