India is planning two rocket launches next month that would carry on board homemade communication and remote sensing satellites, along with a Russian payload and a Singaporean micro spacecraft.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, which had a recent setback with the failure of its latest communication satellite GSAT-5P, is planning three major satellite launches in the first quarter of this year.
Describing the failure of the GSAT-5P communication satellite launch on Saturday as 'very tragic', India's top space scientists and strategic thinkers said the launch vehicle going up in flames soon after the lift off was 'a major setback' for ISRO. Senior space scientist Professor Yashpal, in his first reaction to the failure of the satellite launch, said, "It is very tragic. I think something has happened in early stages. I have never heard of such a thing."
Chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan, while commenting on the failure of the latest communication satellite GSAT-5P onboard homegrown GSLV-F06 powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, said that the vehicle faced problems 50 seconds after its launch."The command for aborting the launch was issued when the vehicle was at an altitude of 8 km and 2.5 km away from Sriharikota," said the ISRO chief.
Launch of India's latest communication satellite GSAT-5P onboard homegrown GSLV-F06, powered by Russian cryogenic engine, failed on Saturday when the rocket developed a snag soon after lift-off from the spaceport in Sriharikota.
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