EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Another task for the PSLV

In its forthcoming mission, scheduled for the second week of July, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will, for the first time, be carrying a communications satellite, the 1,425-kg GSAT-12. The PSLV was originally developed to carry India's remote sensing satellites, which are typically placed in a polar orbit. In 2002, on its seventh mission, the rocket was used to launch the country's first dedicated meteorological satellite, Metsat, later renamed Kalpana-1 in memory of Kalpana Chawla, the Indian-born U.S. astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. Like communication satellites, this meteorological satellite was put into geostationary orbit. In this orbit, some 36,000 km above the equator, the spacecraft matches the earth's rotation and therefore appears stationary from the ground. From its vantage point in space over India, Kalpana-1 keeps constant watch over evolving weather systems. For communications satellites like the GSAT-12, it is good perch to relay telephone conversations, data, and televisions broadcasts.

Satellites headed for geostationary orbit are put by rockets that launch them into an elliptical temporary orbit. From there, rocket engines on the spacecraft are fired periodically to manoeuvre them into the final position over the equator. In 2008, the most powerful version of the PSLV, the PSLV-XL, was used to place the lunar probe Chandrayaan-1, weighing 1,380 kg into an elliptical orbit 255 km at its closest to earth and nearly 23,000 km at its farthest; the spacecraft's own engines then took it, in stages, to orbit around the Moon. Next month, another PSLV-XL will leave the GSAT-12 in an elliptical orbit similar to that of the Chandrayaan-1. Both equatorial and polar launches from Sriharikota are challenging because of the need to drop the rocket's spent stages with considerable precision in international waters. In the case of an equatorial launch of the sort that will be done with the GSAT-12, the PSLV's six strap-on motors as well its first and second stages, when their propellant is exhausted, will have to be safely discarded before the rocket crosses the Malay peninsula; the third stage is dropped into the Pacific Ocean, while the fourth stage goes on to take the spacecraft into orbit. For polar launches, the rocket first flies south-east and then turns southwards in mid-flight to avoid dropping spent stages near Sri Lanka. Without this complicated dog-leg manoeuvre, its payload capability for polar launches would go up by about 50 per cent. These are hurdles the PSLV takes in its stride to fulfil a wide range of missions with sturdy reliability, a tribute indeed to all those who designed and now operate this remarkable launch vehicle.

Greek drama all over again

A highly unpalatable austerity package that is being thrust on Greece has spawned political turmoil in that country. Even a major cabinet reshuffle is not expected to temper the opposition to the austerity measures that prospective lenders insist Greece must adopt to qualify for a bailout package. If it eventually goes through, the reprieve will be the second in just over a year. Last year, when the debt crisis flared up, European lenders, hoping to contain it at the Greek border, provided a bailout worth $158 billion over three years, a significant portion coming from other euro area countries and the balance from the International Monetary Fund. However, since then the debt crisis has spread relentlessly across the southern and western periphery of the euro area. Today the crisis is viewed not just as the problem of a few laggard countries in the euro area but one that can threaten the foundations of the European Monetary Union and even have a negative impact on the global economy. Along with high levels of public debt in the advanced countries and escalating oil prices, it ranks among the significant threats to global economic revival. The IMF has estimated a one per cent drop in global output if the crisis in Europe persists. Even assuming that the Greek Parliament accepts the austerity package, there would still be daunting challenges in its implementation.

A very large portion of the Greek government debt is held by private investors. European banks are said to be holding around $150 billion of Greek government bonds. A bailout package will necessarily result in a steep reduction in the value of such holdings. These banks may have to be recapitalised. The extraordinary dependence on private capital will almost certainly exacerbate worries over the state of public finance in many countries. Other European countries considered weak by the markets will now come under pressure. As large global banks take a hit, the contagion will spread to other countries to which these banks have exposures. The rather tentative moves by Europe's politicians have not helped, but there is reason for their prevarication: in many countries, notably Germany and Finland, voters have generally been reluctant to share the cost of rescuing other countries. The crisis in Greece has brought into sharp focus the weakness of a stand-alone monetary union that does not have the usual fiscal and political foundations. A view is gaining ground that it will be in the best interests of everybody for Greece to exit the euro at least temporarily and then take measures that are in harmony with its own national interests.