ISRO Cancels GSLV D5 Liftoff Due to Second Stage Leak

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A GSLV in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad.
Image credit: ISRO

[Via Satellite 08-19-13] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has cancelled the launch of the GSAT 14 advanced communication satellite after a leak was detected in the UH25 fuel system of the liquid second stage of the GSLV D5 rocket during the pre-launch pressurisation phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off.

The leak forced the ISRO to drain the propellants from the indigenous cryogenic stage, liquid second stage and the four liquid Strap-ons of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). This would have been the second time in three years that the indigenous cryogenic upper state was flight-tested.

The GSAT 14 is a geostationary communications satellite built by the ISRO that will provide satellite-based communication services such as tele-education and tele-medicine. The satellite’s mission will also to extend the country’s C- and Ku-band capacity for satellite-based communication.