By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : A lot can happen in a matter of one minute, officials said Wednesday about the postponement of a rocket launch by 60 seconds to prevent the four satellites it put into orbit colliding with space debris.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) delayed the launch of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C18 (PSLV-C18) ferrying four satellites, including the Rs.172 crore Indo-French collaborative weather satellite Megha-Tropiques.
“Originally the launch was scheduled for 11 a.m. after taking into account the time zone difference between India and France. However the launch was delayed by one minute to avoid any possibility of the satellites colliding with space debris,” ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here.
The assessment on space debris in low earth orbit is made continuously and based on that, the decision to postpone the launch by a minute was taken.
Radhakrishnan said a rocket’s launch time is fixed based on the kind of satellite that is being flown out.
He said the 50-hour countdown for the launch went off well and the flight sequence was perfect.