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.

FMI: www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/index.html, www.isro.org