Indian Lunar Launch Likely Delayed Due To Leak In Rocket Engine - Reports

Daniyal Sohail Published July 16, 2019 | 03:55 PM

India presumably had to call off the much-anticipated launch of its Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission due to a leak in the helium tank of the GSLV Mk-III rocket's cryogenic engine, media reported on Tuesday, citing several informed sources

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2019) India presumably had to call off the much-anticipated launch of its Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission due to a leak in the helium tank of the GSLV Mk-III rocket's cryogenic engine, media reported on Tuesday, citing several informed sources.

Since the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the date and time of the Chandrayaan-2 launch a few weeks ago, the whole country had been closely monitoring the preparations. President Ram Nath Kovind even arrived at the Sriharikota space center on Monday to watch the launch. Less than an hour before lift off, however, the ISRO aborted the mission due to a "technical snag."

"After filling liquid oxygen (oxidiser) and liquid hydrogen (fuel), helium was being filled. The procedure is to pressure the helium bottle up to 350 bars and regulate the output to 50 bars. After filling helium, we found the pressure was dropping, indicating there was a leak.

The team is yet to pinpoint the exact spot of the leak in the gas bottle; there could be multiple leaks," a senior ISRO scientist told The Times of India.

A source close to the ISRO told Sputnik earlier that it would take several days to make a complete analysis of the rocket systems, only after which a new launch date would be announced.

The Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar exploration mission, will follow the Chandrayaan-1 mission, which was sent to the Moon in 2008. The first mission comprised a lunar orbiter and a lander, while the Chandrayaan-2 is equipped with an orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the mineralogical and chemical composition of the lunar surface.

The launch was originally scheduled for April 2018 but was postponed several times for undisclosed reasons.