Indian Space Research Organisation got a fat feather in its cap on Monday with the successful flight of its GSLV Mk III, the heaviest ever rocket from its fleet. From the experimental flight in 2014 to the first development flight on Monday, it was a journey which saw India master cryogenic technology. The C25 cryogenic upper stage was developed indigenously, in what the ISRO scientists are calling a Make in India technological marvel.
At 5.28 pm, the rocket lit up and a few seconds later, from the viewing terrace, we saw a flare light up the evening sky. The rocket shot up, up and away, then changed trajectory and finally disappeared from view, leaving behind an exhaust trail that soon became one with the cumulus clouds.
There was no clapping, yet. It was only at 5.44 pm that ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar's face lit up in a big smile and the mission control room broke into a loud applause. Congratulating his team, Kumar said the month ahead was busy, with two more launches, a PSLV on June 23 and a GSAT-17 on June 28.
P. Kunhikrishnan, director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre called it one more significant event of 2017. India has already seen some very successful launches, including a PSLV that took 104 satellites at one go, and a GSLV Mk II aboard a similar vehicle. Chandrayan II will be launched in some months.
K. Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said that while this was a big challenge, it was not the last. There were bigger challenges ahead as ISRO's ambitions soar. On the future flight path are explorations of Venus, another Mars mission and, of course, Chandrayan II.
The 3 tonner GSAT-19, too, is a phenomenal satellite, said S. Somanath, director of the Liquid Propulsion Centre. The communication satellite is equipped with state of the art gadgetry including gyrometers, altitude sensors. This one satellite is equivalent to a constellation of six older satellites. It will cover all of India, providing greater bandwidth.
ISRO launches its most powerful rocket GSLV Mark III carrying GSAT-19 communication satellite from Sriharikota, AP #GSLVMK3 pic.twitter.com/3Tnme9Qlz5
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 5, 2017
IANS Adds:
The satellite, which has a life span of 10 years, also features certain advanced spacecraft technologies including miniaturised heat pipe, a fibre optic gyro, micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometer, Ku-band TTC transponder, as well an indigenous lithium-ion battery.
The GSLV-Mk III is a three stage/engine rocket. The core of first stage is fired with solid fuel and its two motors by liquid fuel. The second is liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine. Interestingly, GSLV-Mk III at around 43 metres is slightly shorter than Mk-II version that is around 49 metres tall.
India presently has two rockets -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and GSLV-Mk II—with a lift-off mass of 415 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 2.5 tonnes.
