Wednesday 10 April 2013

Fresh GSLV launch attempt in July


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will make a fresh attempt at launching the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the last two flights of which have ended in failure, in July this year, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.

The GSLV will carry a communication satellite GSAT-14 to be put into the space.
GSLV is the second satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO, the other one being PSLV, or Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has just completed the 22nd successful launch in a row. The GSLV has been less lucky, with four of its 10 attempted flights, ending in failure.

"GSLV is an excellent vehicle, a beautiful vehicle. As compared to the PSLV, it is much less complex, except for one stage. It is far simpler to handle, though it has a large number of control components," Radhakrishnan said at a public lecture at the Indian National Science Academy.
The GSLV to be launched in July will be run on an indigenous cryogenic engine. Its assembly has started at Sriharikota facility on January 31, Radhakrishnan said. The cryogenic stage is being integrated and one more test is planned to be conducted later this month.

Radhakrishnan said the next generation of the GSLV, called GSLV-Mark III, which is expected to revolutionise India's space capabilities, would be launched in January next year. The GSLV-Mk III would be the heaviest Indian rocket to fly off, and would be capable of putting large satellites, weighing up to 5 tonne, into space. The present GSLV can carry up to 2.5 tonne.

GSLV-Mk III is also planned to be used for human space flights in future. "We are targeting an experimental flight of the GSLV-Mk III in January. Further development will happen after that," Radhakrishnan said.

The project director of GSLV-Mk III, S Somnath, said simulation of the flight were being done. "But there are certain tests that cannot be performed on the ground. So an experimental launch is required," he said.

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