NEWS
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on April 20 successfully launched the advanced earth observation satellite Resourcesat 2, a move aimed at beefing up its remote sensing capability and two smaller satellites on the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) rocket. On a bright morning at 10:15, ISRO’s Rs. 90-crore rocket—the PSLV—soared towards the heavens from Sriharikota to place in orbit Resourcesat 2. Built to last for five years, the Rs. 140-crore Resourcesat 2 will augment ISRO’s remote sensing data services. It will replace Resourcesat 1 sent up in 2003. Resourcesat 2 was originally scheduled for a launch earlier this year but was postponed for some technical reasons.

VIEWS
In the recent past, ISRO has been buffeted by adversity on account of failures in quick succession of two major missions. First it was the launch of the GSLV D3 on April 15 last year equipped with the indigenous cryogenic engine which was being tested in flight for the first time. The rocket deviated significantly from the desired track a few minutes after launch and had to be destroyed to obviate the possibility of it falling on inhabited areas with catastrophic consequences. This failure denied India membership of an elite club of five countries, the US, France, Japan, Russia and China that possess indigenously developed cryogenic engines. The Failure Analysis Committee of ISRO attributed the failure of the GSLV D3 to sudden disruption in the flow of fuel (liquid hydrogen) to the combustion chamber of the main engine. Coincidentally, this event took place on the very day National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo 13 mission failed four decades ago.

The next attempt in December 2010 involving the GSLV F06 with a Russian cryogenic engine, once again veered off track only a few seconds after lift-off and the “destruct circuit” had to be activated. As assessed later, the failure this time was not related to the cryogenic engine but to a defect in the wiring carrying commands from the ground to the engine controls. The two successive failures adversely affected ISRO’s programme to upgrade satellite communication facilities in the country. Incidentally, an earlier launch in July 2006 of the GSLV powered by a Russian cryogenic engine had also failed. And to make matters worse for ISRO, there was the embarrassing allegation of wrong doing in the allocation of S-band spectrum to private players at throwaway prices that was dubbed as a major scam. This episode is under scrutiny by the investigating agencies of the government. The badly needed redemption for ISRO came with the successful launch of its reliable and proven workhorse, the PSLV. Despite the setbacks with the GSLV programme, ISRO’s track record of successes as compared with the pioneering efforts of the United States of America and the then Soviet Union, has been noteworthy especially as its programmes have been managed at relatively lower costs.