The maiden flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was aborted seconds before take off from the Sriharikota range in southern India on 28 March following a fire in one of the four strap-on engines.
The Indian Space Research Organisation says that all stages of the GSLV-D1 remained intact after the ground computer automatically shut down the engines. No date is set for a new launch.
The GSLV was to have placed the Indian-built GSAT-1 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The three-stage rocket has taken a decade to build and uses Russian engine designs in the cryogenic stage. The abort was consistent with previous Indian first launch efforts with the Satellite Launch Vehicle, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The launch was to have been the first of two flights before the GSLV was offered for sale with a payload capacity of 2,000kg (4,400lb) for geostationary transfer orbit.
Source: Flight International
