Article Posted on : - Mar 11, 2016

SRIHARIKOTA (PTI): The lift-off of India's polar rocket carrying its navigational satellite IRNSS-1F from Sriharikota was on Thursday delayed by one minute just before the launch to avoid any possibility of collision with space debris.

The launch of PSLV-C32 was originally fixed for 4 pm on Thursday from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre by the Launch Authorisation Board, but was postponed by a minute, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

"The launch time is revised to 16.01 hours (IST) for collision avoidance as per the space debris studies.

Countdown status normal", ISRO said in a notification after the successful launch of the satellite.

This is the second time in recent years ISRO revised the launch time after a similar postponement was made ahead of the launch of PSLV-C23 in 2014.

Though the launch of PSLV-C23 carrying French satellite, SPOT-7, and co-passenger spacecraft from Canada, Germany and Singapore, was originally fixed at 9.49 am on June 30, 2014, it was rescheduled for 9.52 am due to possibility of space debris movement during the launch window.