common stake not only for our scientists , but for their families too . VR Nagaraj was the leader of the electrical integration team . Dedicated technologist that he is , Nagaraj would forget basic requirements like food and sleep while on the integration gig . His brother-in-law passed away while he was at ITR . His family kept this information from Nagaraj so that there would be no interruption in his work towards the launching of Agni .
The Agni launch had been scheduled for 20 April 1989 . This was going to be an unprecedented exercise . Unlike space launch vehicles , a missile launch involves wideranging safety hazards . Two radars , three telemetry stations , one telecommand station and four electro-optical tracking instruments to monitor the missile trajectory had been deployed . In addition , the telemetry station at Car Nicobar ( ISTRAC ) and the SHAR radars were also commissioned to track the vehicle . Dynamic surveillance was employed to cover the electrical power that flows from the missile batteries within the vehicle and to control system pressures . Should any deviation be noticed either in voltage or in pressure , the specially designed automatic checkout system would signal “ Hold ”. The flight operations would then be sequenced only if the defect was rectified . The countdown for the launch started at T-36 hours . The countdown from T-7.5 minutes was to be computer controlled .
All activities preparatory to the launch went according to schedule . We had decided to move the people living in nearby villages to safety at the time of the launch . This attracted media attention , and led to much controversy . By the time 20 April 1989 arrived , the whole nation was watching us . Foreign pressure was exerted through diplomatic channels to abort the flight trial , but the Indian Government stood behind us like a rock and staved off any distraction to our work . We were at T-14 seconds when the computer signalled “ Hold ”, indicating that one of the instruments was functioning erratically . This was immediately rectified . Meanwhile , the down-range station asked for a “ Hold ”. In another few seconds , multiple Holds were necessitated , resulting in irreversible internal power consumption . We had to abort the launch . The missile had to be opened up to replace the on-board power supplies . A weeping Nagaraj , by now informed about the tragedy in his family , met me and promised that he would be back within three days . The profiles of these courageous people will never be written about in any history book , but it is such silent people on whose hard work generations thrive and nations progress . Sending Nagaraj off , I met my team members who were in a state of shock and sorrow . I shared my SLV-3 experience with them . “ I lost my launch vehicle in the sea but recovered successfully . Your missile is in front of you . In fact you have lost nothing but a few weeks of rework .” This shook them out of their immobility and the entire team went back to retrieve the subsystems and re-charge them .
The press was up in arms , and fielded various interpretations of the postponement of the flight to suit the fancies of their readership . Cartoonist Sudhir Dar sketched a shopkeeper returning a product to the salesman saying that like Agni it would not take off . Another cartoonist showed one Agni scientist explaining that the launch was postponed because the press button did not make contact . The Hindustan Times showed a leader consoling press reporters , “ There ’ s no need for any alarm ... it ’ s a purely peaceful , non-violent missile ”.
After a detailed analysis conducted virtually around the