ISRO suffers setback as IRNSS-1H launch unsuccessful

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday suffered a setback after its workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) failed to deliver India's navigation satellite, which is the first satellite to be jointly assembled in partnership with private sector, in its intended orbit.

The 1,425 kg Indian Regional Navigation Satellite-1H (IRNSS-1H), which was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 7 pm on board the highly-reliable and versatile PSLV, was declared unsuccessful after its heat shield failed to separate.

ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar announced the mission unsuccessful after the heat shield failed to separate from the satellite in the fourth stage. "The C39 launch vehicle had a problem, the heat shield has not separated. As a result, the satellite is inside the heat shield and we have to do a detailed analysis to see what happened," Kumar said at the Mission Control Centre.

After the failed mission in 1993, the four-stage engine rocket PSLV, in its 41st flight, had 39 consecutive successful missions until Thursday.

IRNSS-1H satellite cannot be used as it was enclosed within the heat shield. "We have to analyse the heat shield separation command and subsequent commands," he said.

Queried about the impact of the mission failure on getting commercial launch projects, the ISRO chairman said the issue has to be studied.