INDIA PREPARES TO LAUNCH INTERCONTINENTAL ROCKET
India is preparing to launch
its first intercontinental-range rocket, which it insists is
part of a purely peaceful space program.
    But a space department official who did not wish to be
identified said the Augmented Space Launch Vehicle (ASLV), with
the range of an intercontinental rocket and able to carry a
150-kg satellite, could be converted into a weapon after
modifications.
    Space Commission Chairman Udipi Ramachandra Rao said the
ASLV will be launched between March 20 and April 5, depending
on weather and other factors.
    "This launch will pave the way for the most important stage,
by the end of 1989, when we test the Polar Space Launch Vehicle
(PSLV)," Rao told Reuters.
    The space department official said the PSLV would be able
to launch 1,000-kg satellites into polar orbit.
    Rao said a successful ASLV launch could speed up the space
program slightly but was not likely to solve the problem of a
backup satellite for India's Insat 1B.
    Insat 1B handles telephone communications, controls 182 of
the country's 187 television stations and provides
meteorological data for farmers.
    "It is a great worry that we do not have a second satellite
to back up Insat 1B in case it fails. Even with Insat 1C's
launch by Ariane in the first quarter of 1988, we will still be
in trouble because the life of Insat 1B ends in 1989," Rao said.
    He said India plans to send up Insat 1D as soon as possible
as a backup for Insat 1C, but will have to wait for a place on
a NASA or Ariane launch vehicle. "We can't use Soviet vehicles
because the satellites are made in the United States," he said.
 REUTER
