Bangalore, April 06: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come under criticism from promoters of an Israeli astronomical satellite for allegedly delaying its launch and shifting the blame on schedule slippages.
Tauvex comprises three ultra-violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP), with Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics providing the software and science and mission planning.
Its flight date on board an Indian launcher was first supposed to be in late 2005 and has continually slipped.
Tauvex, whose scientific data would be open to all Indian and Israeli scientists, was scheduled to be launched by ISRO’s GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) this month but India’s space agency said it would not be part of this mission.
“Yes, it was originally (scheduled to be launched by GSLV this month). But then we are not putting it because it’s an astronomy payload. And on review, we found that the signals that we can get from geostationary orbit are far less compared to a lower orbit and sensitivity of the (Tauvex) instrument also had come down”, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.
“So, we best thought that we will have a mission later,” he said.
But promoters of Tauvex, which aims to conduct ultraviolet imaging experiment that will image large parts of the sky in a particular wavelength region, said on condition of anonymity that even if the sensitivity of the instrument had come down, they could have still had “good science” from GSLV orbit.
“Even if sensitivity drops, we could have made up through increased exposure time and observation time,” an official behind the Tauvex project said, adding “Once we go to PSLV (lower orbit), our science focus changes. We can still do excellent science with PSLV. We are concerned by the delay”.
The Israeli official said the real reason for postponing the Tauvex launch has to do with GSLV boosters which are not powerful enough to carry additional weight.
This month’s GSLV carries GSAT-4 experimental communication satellite, weighing 2200 kg.
–PTI