Tue, Jul 11, 2006
India's Rocket Program Suffers Setbacks
It's been a lousy two days for
Indian scientists overseeing the test firing of a new
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and the launch of a
powerful new rocket booster that was to carry the country's
heaviest satellite into orbit.
Alas, the INSAT-4C satellite fell far short of that goal, after
the GSLV booster (right) carrying it veered off course Sunday about
one minute after liftoff, before disintegrating in a ball of flame.
Debris from the rocket and the satellite -- launched from the
Sriharikota Space Research Center in the southern part of the
country -- fell harmlessly into the Bay of Bengal.
"A mishap happened in the first stage of the separation and it
will be some time before we know what went wrong," said mission
chief Madhavan Nair. "We have to analyse the sequence of events to
see what happened."
Nair added he believes the failure stemmed from a strap-on
booster, which might have caused the rocket to go out of
control.
India had hoped the launch of the INSAT-4C -- which was to have
bolstered tlecommunications and satellite television signals to
customers in India -- would lead the way to landing a share of the
lucrative commercial satellite launch market. Despite the setback,
scientists were quick to point out that twelve successful launches
preceded Monday's failure... and that other rocket programs have
had similarly ignoble beginnings.
The failed launch of the INSAT-4C came one day after a
test-firing of India's longest range nuclear-capable ICBM ended in
failure, as well. After an unspecified problem cropped up about
five minutes after launch, the Agni-III surface-to-surface missile
also fell into the Bay of Bengal.
The missile, with an estimated range of 1,865 miles, travelled
only about a third of that distance before plummeting into the
sea.
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