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Dhamra (Orissa): India's longest-range, nuclear capable missile Agni-III failed to meet its test standard on Sunday.
The Government had cleared the testfiring after two years. A successful test-launch would have meant a projection of India's nuclear weapons power beyond its immediate neighbourhood.
The missile was meant to be India's first step in building an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile, a capability only shared by the permanent members of the UN Security Council that allows for a strike anywhere at will.
Undaunted by the partial failure of test-firing of the country's most powerful and longer reach 3,500-km range Agni-III missile, Defence Research and Development Organisation scientists on Sunday said more trials of the IRBM missile would be conducted in months ahead to make it fool-proof.
"It was our first experiment with such a long-range missile and in the next few days, we will analyse faults in order to rectify them," the scientists said.
They said the entire data of the testing of the missile from its launch to a snag developing in the second stage was being analysed and 'we are hopeful of rectifying it'.
When the missile veered off-course, the scientists had been closely monitoring the trajectory of the missile, they said.
Prior to the launch of the missile, DRDO scientists had carried out cold seabed trials of critical components and subsistence of missile and this would enable pinpointing of the snag.
"We will have to carry out more tests of the missile in the coming months," the scientists said.
Earlier in the day, the sophisticated intermediate range ballistic misslie (IRBM) Agni-III was test-fired from a range off the Orissa coast on Sunday.
The Agni Story So Far
May 22, 1989: Agni test-fired from Chandipur-on-sea May 29, 1992: Agni test-fired from Chandipur-on-sea
The indigenously built surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile, with a range of 3,500 km, was test-fired from a fixed platform at the launch complex of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the Wheeler's Island at about 1105 hours IST, defence sources said.
India's most sophisticated  (IRBM) to date, the  was test-fired off the Orissa coast earlier today. The missile took off from a fixed platform at the Integrated Test Range at  at 11:05 IST (05:35 GMT) in the presence of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his scientific advisor M. Natarajan. 

The Agni-II missile being displayed on a mobile launcher during the 2004 Republic Day parade.

The missile took off vertically into space before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down near  in the Bay of Bengal. Three sophisticated radars, six electro-optical tracking systems and three telemetric data stations on the mainland at Dhamra, Chandipur and the Andamans, together with a ship anchored near the splash-down point monitored the missile's trajectory. According to eyewitnesses, the missile blasted off into the sky leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and disappeared out of sight into the clouds within seconds. 

The Agni-III, which has a range of 3,500 km and can carry up to 1000 kg of payload, has been described as the most powerful missile developed by India's . The missile, which is 16 metres long and has a diametre of 1.8 metres, has solid fuel boosters and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. The Agni-I and Agni-II, which were the earlier versions of the Agni series developed under the  (IGMDP), have already been inducted into the Indian Army. Boosters for the earlier two missiles had been provided by the , however, the Agni-III uses an entirely new booster vehicle.


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