With the Mars mission on its way, the focus is now back on the Made-in- India cryogenic stage and the GSLV D-5 mission. But the mission, whose original launch was scrubbed in August following a fuel leak, is likely to be delayed further.
The ISRO had fixed the relaunch for December 15. But the mission will be delayed to December-end at least as the debacle in August has made the space agency wary. The new launch date is expected to be finalised on Tuesday at a high-level meeting Bangalore called by ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.
A thorough overhaul of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is currently underway at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. “All the stages have been replaced, including the two S-139 solid fuel motors. This caused the delay. The electrical and mechanical assemblies are progressing on the launch vehicle.
Everything is progressing smoothly and we are racing against time to launch the mission by December- end,’’ a senior scientist with ISRO said. ISRO opted for a ‘re-do’ on the rocket as the first launch attempt - on August 19 - had to be called off due to a UH25 fuel leak in the second stage powered by a liquid fuel motor.
It had taken the agency six days to clean the launchpad and its environs of 750 kg of UH25 fuel that had leaked out. The India-built cryogenic engine - which powers the third, upper stage of the GSLV - is ready for flight, officials said. This stage will burn for 720 seconds. The primary aim of the mission is to qualify the cryo stage, even though the GSLV D-5 will also be carrying the 1980 kg GSAT-14 communication satellite which will be placed in an orbit with a perigee of 185 km.