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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 imploded within the
heat shield, in the fourth stage itself," ISRO Chairman A.S.
Kiran Kumar told reporters in a televised news conference.
The heat shield is meant to protect the satellite from the heat
generated by the friction against atmosphere during take-off.
Once a satellite is placed into orbit, it is expected to
separate and fall off.
The IRNSS-1H satellite had been released from the Sriharikota
Space Centre in southern India.
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.
(Reporting by Mohi Narayan, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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