Launch lessons

Launch lessons

Context

The loss of communication between the ground station and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s latest satellite after its launch on March 29 is deeply disappointing. ISRO’s mission aimed to place the communication satellite, GSAT-6A, in space

Launch operation

• A launch operation can be simplified into the initial three stages, during which the satellite is boosted to different heights by the launch vehicle and then placed in a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO)
• This is an elliptical orbit into which a satellite is placed initially before being transferred into a geosynchronous orbit where it maintains a position above a fixed longitude
• During each of these stages, a part of the rocket completes its role and disengages from the bulk. Then the satellite moves towards its final and desired orbit

What happened with GSAT-6A satellite?

The GSAT-6A was first raised to the elliptical orbit, followed up by a second orbit-raising operation on March 31. It was after this and during the third such operation that the ground station lost contact with the satellite

• This is why it is being thought that the failure occurred because of a flaw outside the launch vehicle, the GSLV, perhaps from a short circuit or power glitch within the satellite itself

Way forward

It had been reported that the mission would be a testing ground for ISRO’s next moon mission. Given this background, ISRO should be open about the specific learning points from this launch exercise. Space science is exciting not just for the experts, but to many outside the field. Therefore, it is important that the agency presents itself more openly to the world