The Indian Space Research Organisation’s attempt to launch its eighth navigation satellite, IRNSS-1H on Thursday was unsuccessful. The satellite weighs 1,425 kg and was carried by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
ISRO chairman, AS Kiran Kumar, said the mission failed as the PSLV’s heat shield did not open up for the satellite to be positioned. Around 70 ISRO scientists supervised the process.
“There was no problem in any of the stages,” Kumar said. ISRO will analyse what went wrong. “The heat shield did not separate, due to which it was unable to get into orbit. The satellite got separated internally, but it is enclosed within the heat shield.”
The IRNSS-1H launched at 7 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It was to join the seven of the NavIC constellation to give India its own GPS services. The indigenous Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System is on par with the United States’ Global Positioning System, Russia’s Glonass and Europe’s Galileo.
