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GSLV relaunch likely in May

The aborted Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle is likely to be re-launched ''sometime in May'', Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi said on Friday.

''The process of removal of fuel has begun and will take two to three weeks. The launch can be sometime in May,'' he told reporters when asked about the re-launch of the aborted mission.

Joshi said it was a great success for Indian scientists that they could detect the fault and prevent a mishap.

He said he also spoke to Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Kasturirangan on Friday morning.

The first experimental flight to carry a communication satellite that could have put India in the reckoning for a multi-billion dollars business failed to take off after a motor caught fire seconds after ignition.

An ISRO spokesman said in Bangalore that the new date for the relaunch of GSLV was likely to be announced next week, after a detailed failure analysis.

"It will be premature to decide on any date at present," the spokesman told PTI, making it clear that no date had been fixed for a rescheduled launch of GSLV.

Zeroing in on the defect, which resulted in the GSLV launch mission being aborted a second before lift-off, required immense amount of data to be studied, he said, adding there would also be the problem of deciding a fixed launch window.

"We will first try to understand the problem, chalk out solutions and actions to be taken before deciding how and when to implement these," the spokesman said.

Deciding a date for a GSLV launch had to be preceded by assessing "a whole lot of factors,' including weather and climatic changes, the spokesman said.

PTI

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