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GSLV, INSAT 2-E, PSLV-C2 launches postponed to next year

Three major space programmes, scheduled for the current year, have suffered further delays. Even the ambitious Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, slated for launch early next year, will now take place either during the middle or end of 1999.

Talking to the media after visiting the Indian Space Research Organisation's satellite centre in Bangalore, Union Human Resources Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said that INSAT 2-E, which was scheduled for launch on the European Space Agency's Ariane launcher from Korou in French Guyana, would now be launched late this year or early next year. The satellite, whose 11 transponders have been leased to the INTELSAT organisation, was originally scheduled to be launched this month.

The October launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C2, from the Sriharikota range has now been postponed to the first quarter of 1999, he said. It would hurl into space the IRS-P2 (Oceansat).

Justifying the delays, Dr Joshi said that the government wanted to play safe and did not want to incur any financial burden. Delay in such matters was acceptable, he added.

Following a major power anomaly which crippled the INSAT-2D, ISRO was forced to acquire a satellite from ArabSat to augment its transponder capacities. Suitable changes were also being incorporated into INSAT-2E to ensure it was trouble-free.

UNI

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