Insat-4CR blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. (AP)

Sriharikota, Sept. 2: G. Madhavan Nair’s heart “almost stopped” beating twice this evening, once before the satellite launch vehicle was to blast into space and again when Insat-4CR was being injected into orbit.

The serial scares, however, gave way to smiles hours later as the Isro chairman and his team watched the GSLV-F04 successfully lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and place the 2,130-kg satellite in orbit.

The journey into space of India’s heaviest communication satellite began with a hiccup at 4.21pm when one of the ground computers failed to catch the GSLV’s engine “readiness signals”, forcing the launch to be put off by two hours.

The glitch dampened the spirits of the Isro team, bringing back memories of the failed launch of a similar satellite in July last year. Fingers crossed, they fixed a new launch time two hours away, hoping to take “corrective action” by then.

At 6.20pm, when the 49-metre-tall GSLV roared up amid orange flames and the flutter of wings of birds jolted out of slumber in nearby trees, the collective sigh of relief was audible.

But the respite was short-lived. Midway through the three-stage launch, the signals on the computer screen went dead.

“Oh God!” Nair exclaimed, chewing his nails and drawing his palm over his eyes.

Seconds later, the signals came alive as though by magic and went dead again. An eternity later, they began blipping again.

“I am happy to announce a complete successful mission of the GSLV-F04,” a relieved Nair said at the news conference later.

“In between, our hearts almost stopped. The signals on the screen stopped twice during the mission,” he said, trying to explain that some glitch had occurred during the “third cryogenic thrust stage separation”.

“Fortunately, the signals came and it was back on track. Team Isro has done it again.”

Terming the launch “nice and successful”, he continued: “This mission was dramatic as we have gone through the mill and the anxiety of fear, a lot of verifications and analysis.”

The satellite, which has a 10-year life term, is expected to boost direct-to-home television services, video picture transmission and digital news gathering services.

It is Isro’s third successful launch this year and will ease the sting of the July 10, 2006, disaster when the GSLV-F02 crashed into the Bay of Bengal. “We have proved that the GSLV is a very reliable vehicle,” Nair said.

For Nair’s boys, the launch was crucial for another reason: two of their colleagues, Rajeev Lochan and Krishnamurthy, had died in a road crash near Tirupati on their way to oversee preparations.

Today’s success was their way of paying homage.