Chandrayaan-2 launch called off after ‘technical snag’ in rocket, revised date could take months

ISRO officials indicated that it could take up to a few days to assess the seriousness of the problem. That could rule out another attempt at the launch in the current window of opportunity which is available only till Tuesday (July 16). The next launch date could be months later.

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The countdown to the launch was stopped at 56 minutes ahead of the scheduled time after scientists detected a problem in the rocket.

A technical snag detected in the GSLV-MkIII rocket, less than an hour ahead of the scheduled launch aborted the planned flight of Chandrayaan-2, India’s first attempt at landing a spacecraft on the moon.

“Revised launch date would be announced later,” ISRO said in a statement without giving any details of the problem that had been detected.

It was not clear how soon that new launch date could be. ISRO officials indicated that it could take up to a few days to assess the seriousness of the problem. That could rule out another attempt at the launch in the current window of opportunity which is available only till Tuesday (July 16). The next launch date could be months later.

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The countdown to the launch was stopped at 56 minutes ahead of the scheduled time after scientists detected a problem in the rocket. ISRO did not specify it but there were indications that the problem was detected in the upper stage of the rocket having the cryogenic engine where liquid hydrogen fuel had been filled less than half an hour earlier.

Explained: What’s behind Chandrayaan-2’s GSLV Mk-III rocket that developed glitch

Chandrayaan-2, which has an Orbiter, Lander and Rover component, was originally scheduled to be launched as early as in 2010 or 2011, immediately after the 2008 Chandryaan-1 mission. (AP)

GSLV-MkIII is the most powerful rocket built by ISRO and is designed to carry heavier payloads, weighing up to 4000 kg, into the geosynchronous transfer orbit, at least 35,000 km from the earth. It is supposed to be the rocket for the future. It has made only two successful flights till now, the first one that of GSLV Mk-III D1 in June 2017 that carried the GSAT-19, a communication satellite weighing more than 3000 kg, and then in November last year, when the GSLV Mk-III D2 launched the 3423-kg GSAT-29 communication satellite.

The proposed human mission to space, to be launched by 2022, is also planned to be carried on GSLV Mk-III rocket.

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Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan, India’s first mission to Mars, launched n 2013, were carried by PSLV rockets, ISRO’s most reliable launch vehicle. PSLV has a capacity to deliver payloads only up to 1500 kg in the sub-GTO orbits, but it has had a remarkably successful run. Between 1994, when it made its maiden flight, and 2017, PSLV has had 48 successful launches, and has failed only twice. However, it is not suitable for launching heavier payloads, like Chandrayaan-2 which weighed close to 4,000 kg.

Spectators leave after the Chandrayaan-2 mission was aborted at Sriharikota (AP)

Chandrayaan-2, which has an Orbiter, Lander and Rover component, was originally scheduled to be launched as early as in 2010 or 2011, immediately after the 2008 Chandryaan-1 mission. But at that time it was supposed to be a joint India-Russia mission, with Russia contributing the Lander and Rover, while ISRO was to provide the launcher and the Orbiter. The planned mission could not take off because of design flaws detected in the Russian lander and rover. The Russians eventually pulled out of the collaboration, leaving ISRO to build its own lander and rover. That took time, and the mission was finally ready by 2017.

The mission was initially slated to be launched last year but was postponed at least twice due to unavailability of a suitable window of opportunity to land on the moon.