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I saw some newspapers Thursday morning and was wondering how they could use provocative phrases like "setback to the Indian space programme" and "failure of the mission". It is completely wrong to perceive it that way.
Actually nothing unusual happened. What happened was just a normal testing process before the launch of India's first Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. There is an in-built safety system in our computer systems that would shut off the launch automatically if anything was wrong.
We have four strap-on engines and 4.6 seconds before lift off, computers check whether all are functioning normally. Unless all the four engines perform to normal levels, we do not ignite the fifth motor which is the core motor. The four engines run on liquid fuel and the core engine runs on solid fuel.
At 3.6 seconds, we assessed the performance and one was found to be below the 90 per cent performance level. It did not have the necessary thrust for lift off. So as I said, the computer switched the system off.
If we had let the GSLV go up, it would have been a failure. We have not failed. There is only a delay, as a re-launch will happen soon.
There is absolutely no room for pessimism. It is just a matter of a few weeks before we get ready for another launch.
I cannot exactly tell you when the rescheduled launch is going to be because it all depends on the nature of the problem. Our scientists are studying what went wrong and they should know it in another three days or so.
Within minutes of the aborted launch, we were already busy unloading all the fuel so that our scientists could go to the launch pad and make checks. The unloading is almost over. We will now put our action plan to work that will end in a rescheduled launch.
The used engine can be easily replaced by a standby engine. We will soon know what we need to do after preliminary studies are over.
The writer is Director, Indian Space Research Organisation, Sriharikota Range
As told to Ramesh Menon
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