The Hindu Business Line : ISRO plans not hit by blast; probe report in 10 days

A DAY after an explosion ripped through the Sriharikota launch centre, ISRO has said that its upcoming programmes will not be set back. It has confirmed that six persons died and put the material damage at Rs 70 lakh.

The organisation has named a former director, Mr R. Aravamudan, to head the investigating committee and give a preliminary report in 10 days. A full report will be given in six months, an ISRO spokesman said.

Mr Aravamudan, a former Director of the SHAR centre, retired a few years ago as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore. The team includes other former ISRO experts and the safety officer.

ISRO said Monday's major fire accident occurred at 3.15 p.m. during a routine activity connected with what ISRO said was a "developmental" or experimental test of a segment of rocket motor. The explosion occurred at the cast-cure facility of the solid propellant space booster plant (SPROB).

A crew of nine people had completed propellant curing of the motor part and was in the last stages of removing the fixtures. It was handling 14.5 tonnes of the propellant (a composite of ammonium perchlorate, atomised aluminium power and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene.) The propellant accidentally caught fire, killing six and severely damaging the building. Three others escaped with severe burns.

ISRO said the accident would not affect launch activities, and that the propellant lost was a very small amount compared to the 200-odd tonnes that go into a single stage of 3 or stages of a launcher. Besides, SHAR facilities are all well spread out from each other "because we are in a risky business," an official said. The centre has two cast-cure units to meet emergencies.

The next launch at Sriharikota is of the GSLV-F1 (operational) rocket launch carrying Edusat or Gsat-3 and is slated around July this year. The activity for the launch would start only from April and be in peak until post-launch period of August.

The probe team has been asked to identify the events that caused the accident, extent of damage and the corrective actions to be taken.

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