PSLV launch delayed by a minute to avoid space collision

Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) delayed the launch of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C18 (PSLV-C18) ferrying four satellites, including the Indo-French collaborative weather satellite Megha-Tropiques by 60 seconds to prevent it from colliding with space debris.

A lot can happen in a matter of one minute, officials said on Wednesday about the postponement.

"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.

"Around 13,000 space debris are being tacked worldwide by space agencies. The data is collated by NASA. This data is made available to space agencies," an official, who did not wished to be named, told IANS.

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He said the original launch time was 11 am, but since the rocket would take around 25 minutes to eject the satellite, there was a danger of collision with space debris.

Dr Radhakrishnan said a rocket's launch time is fixed based on the kind of satellite that is being flown out.

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He said the 50-hour countdown for the launch went off well and the flight sequence was perfect.