In the second setback to the country’s space programme in 2010, the planned Monday launch of India’s latest communications satellite, GSAT-5P, from the spaceport of Sriharikota, was deferred on Sunday after a leak in the Russian cryogenic engine on board the launch vehicle.
The mission was postponed after the Launch Authorisation Board did not give the go-ahead after a leak in one of the valves of the cryogenic engine stage was identified during pre-countdown checks, ISRO said. The homegrown GSLV-FO6 was scheduled to lift off at 4.01 pm from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km from Chennai, in a 19-minute mission to put in orbit the 2,310-kg satellite, intended to augment the country’s communications services. Isro said the revised schedule for the launch would be firmed up after ascertaining the cause of the leak. Sunday’s postponement is the second setback for Isro after India’s mission of flight testing its maiden homegrown cryogenic engine on board GSLV-D3 failed in April 2010.