ISRO IRNSS-1H launch from Sriharikota unsuccessful: Here's why it failed

The navigation satellite IRNSS-1H, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Thursday from Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota was unsuccessful.

ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar confirmed the same.

"Launch mission has not succeeded. Heat shield has not separated as a result of which satellite is inside the 4th stage," he said in a press briefing.

He further said that the ISRO is getting into the details of what has happened.

"This has been an unsuccessful mission. There is no problem in any of the stages, but heat shield has to separate and once that happens it gets into the orbit," he added.

The IRNSS-1H satellite had been expected to join seven others in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to take the country a step further to developing its own global positioning system.

Satellite got separated internally but it is enclosed within the heat shield, fourth stage

The PSLV-C39 carrying 1425 Kg IRNSS-1H series satellite was launched at 7:00 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The PSLV launched IRNSS-1H, the eighth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO).

PSLV-C39, like the previous six launches of IRNSS satellites, used the 'XL' version of the PSLV equipped with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tonnes of propellan.

IRNSS helps navigate the country’s aerial and marine routes, as well as aid disaster management and vehicle tracking up to 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) around the mainland.

However, India lags behind the United States’ GPS, Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo and China’s Beidou systems that have dozens of satellites to provide information across the globe.