NEW DELHI – India’s space agency said on Monday it was trying tore-establish a link with its most powerful communication satellite thatwent missing over the weekend, in a setback for its space ambitions.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the link with the satellitewas lost in the third and final stage of its launch, but it did not specifythe possible cause of the snag.
“Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite,” ISRO saidon its website.
The satellite was launched on Thursday through an indigenously developedlaunch vehicle.
The GSAT-6A is an advanced mobile communications satellite with a six-metrewide antenna, the biggest used by an ISRO communication satellite.
Once located, the agency should be able to command and take the satelliteto its final orbit.
If not, the satellite would come down and burn out like any other, anagency official said.
The satellite would enable advanced mobile communications, the space agencysaid, including for the military.
India is seeking a larger share of the more than $300 billion global spaceindustry as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to project it as a globallow-cost provider of services in space. Agencies