Flight Test of GSLV Mk-III Likely to be Delayed by 2 Months
Space buffs will have to wait at least until June this year to see the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), India’s biggest rocket, flight-tested.
The original plan was to have the sub-orbital test flight of the GSLV-Mk III in April, but the mission has been put off by two months.
“Work has progressed quickly on the core stage of the rocket and its two strap-on boosters, but the upper stage which uses a cryogenic engine will take another month to complete,” ISRO officials said.
The rocket has two S-200 strap-on boosters which will be the first to burn, followed by the L-110 core stage and finally, the cryogenic stage, which, however, will remain ‘passive’ for the test flight.
“The L-110 ‘core’ stage of the rocket was ready and it was dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, on Friday,” M C Dathan, director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), told Express here on Sunday. This stage uses two Vikas engines with Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and Dinitrogen tetroxide (N204) as fuel.
One of the two S-200 strap-on boosters is ready and the second one is expected to be completed by Monday.
The C-25 cryogenic engine, which is essentially a bigger version of the cryo stage successfully tested by ISRO last year, is being assembled at the LPSC in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. ISRO hopes to have it ready by April-end when it too will be packed off to Sriharikota for the final tests and assembly of the rocket.
GSLV Mk-III will considerably boost the ISRO’s payload capabilities. The regular GSLV can lift 400 tonnes, but GSLV Mk-III- which will stand 42.4 metres tall at ISRO’s second launchpad- can do much better; 630 tonnes. Even if the test flight is successful, ISRO hopes to have the GSLV Mk-III ready for commercial operations only by 2016.
In the meantime, ISRO is gearing up for the PSLV-C24 mission bearing the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1B satellite.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is scheduled to lift off at 5.14 pm on April 4.
“The launch rehearsal has been successfully conducted,” ISRO officials said.
Source- The New Indian Express
Space buffs will have to wait at least until June this year to see the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), India’s biggest rocket, flight-tested.
The original plan was to have the sub-orbital test flight of the GSLV-Mk III in April, but the mission has been put off by two months.
“Work has progressed quickly on the core stage of the rocket and its two strap-on boosters, but the upper stage which uses a cryogenic engine will take another month to complete,” ISRO officials said.
The rocket has two S-200 strap-on boosters which will be the first to burn, followed by the L-110 core stage and finally, the cryogenic stage, which, however, will remain ‘passive’ for the test flight.
“The L-110 ‘core’ stage of the rocket was ready and it was dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, on Friday,” M C Dathan, director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), told Express here on Sunday. This stage uses two Vikas engines with Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and Dinitrogen tetroxide (N204) as fuel.
One of the two S-200 strap-on boosters is ready and the second one is expected to be completed by Monday.
The C-25 cryogenic engine, which is essentially a bigger version of the cryo stage successfully tested by ISRO last year, is being assembled at the LPSC in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. ISRO hopes to have it ready by April-end when it too will be packed off to Sriharikota for the final tests and assembly of the rocket.
GSLV Mk-III will considerably boost the ISRO’s payload capabilities. The regular GSLV can lift 400 tonnes, but GSLV Mk-III- which will stand 42.4 metres tall at ISRO’s second launchpad- can do much better; 630 tonnes. Even if the test flight is successful, ISRO hopes to have the GSLV Mk-III ready for commercial operations only by 2016.
In the meantime, ISRO is gearing up for the PSLV-C24 mission bearing the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1B satellite.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is scheduled to lift off at 5.14 pm on April 4.
“The launch rehearsal has been successfully conducted,” ISRO officials said.
Source- The New Indian Express
