GSLV, PSLV FLIGHTS PUT OFF

 The launch of the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), scheduled for December 2009 from Sriharikota, has been postponed to March.

 The GSLV-D3 will be powered by an indigenous cryogenic stage built for the first time by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It will put in orbit a communication satellite, GSAT-4, which is not ready either.

 The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), planned to be launched prior to the GSLV-D3 flight, has also been postponed. It will now take off in March to put in orbit Cartosat-2B; Alsat, a small satellite from Algeria; two nano-satellites from the University of Toronto, and another nano-satellite, Studsat (Students’ satellite), built by several Indian universities. The Cartosat-2B, to be built by the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, is also not ready.