ISRO successfully launched its geo-stationary satellite, GSAT-12 on July 15th. Strange it may seem, the launch vehicle was the PSLV-C17, ISRO’s only proven workhorse. But, PSLV stands for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, right? Which means this rocket is designed to put satellites earmarked for remote sensing, cartography and military applications into a polar orbit? Then why ISRO is using this vehicle to send a geo-satellite which need to be at an orbit 36,000 km high? There we are, marvelling at the wisdom of the adage, “When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.”
As mentioned in my previous blog post, ISRO has failed to come up with GSLV, the rocket capable of sending communication satellites to geo-synchronous orbits. They have attempted, true, but the result is a miserable failure. Other countries had developed their own capability in far less time and with far less budget. In the U.S., even a private company owns this technology! What more ISRO can hope for, with the massive infrastructure of budget, man power and an audience which applauds at even the slightest ups, but fails to notice the biggest downs? The GSLV, when it takes shape at last, would be poor cousins to the versions owned by developed countries and China, as it can handle only 2.5 tons, whereas the capacity is 4.5 to 5 tons elsewhere. ISRO can’t even come up with even this humble one.
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