India’s GSLV makes perfect debut
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WASHINGTON – on its second countdown attempt India’s largest space launch Officials reported An earlier launch try ended in a pad abort seconds before liftoff when the Related Links
vehicle roared away from its launching site on a perfect maiden flight,
officials of the Indian Space Research Organization reported Wednesday. The
three-stage GSLV rocket as launched at 3:34pm local time from the ISRO
launch site 100 km. north of Chennai India. On board the booster was a test
version of a future Indian telecommunications satellite.
that the core booster burned for 100 seconds, and its stage one strap-on
motors fired for 162 seconds after launch, separating from the rising stack
at an altitude of 75 km. Stage two was jettisoned at 314 seconds into the
flight, followed by ignition of the third, cryogenic stage. This final
propulsive stage burned for 693 seconds, lifting itself and the attached
satellite test vehicle to 195 km. and a geostationary transfer orbit. ISRO
officials reported Wednesday the satellite has successfully separated from
the cryogenic stage and was en route to GTO. An apogee motor attached to
the satellite will be used to insert the craft, named the GSAT-1, into its
final 36,000 km. Geosynchronous orbit. Solar array deployment and orientation of the
satellite were the next events on the spacecraft’s schedule.
vehicle’s ground launch sequencer detected an underthrust in one of the
strap-on motors. A spare engine was used to replace the faulty device and
make ready for today’s second, successful launch attempt. The GSLV joins
India’s PSLV as a two-vehicle launch stable capable of servicing Polar,
Sunsynchronous, and Geosynchronous orbits with remote sensing and telecommunications
payloads. It would compare roughly with the U.S. Delta II booster.
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