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GSLV set for launch
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 08 May 2003, 19:30 IST
CHENNAI: The countdown for sending India's largest satellite launch rocket into space for the second time Thursday is progressing on schedule, officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
The second developmental flight of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D2) is scheduled at 4.58 p.m. Thursday. The final countdown for the launch started at 1.58 a.m. Wednesday.
"The countdown is progressing smoothly and the launch is expected to take place as scheduled if all goes well," an ISRO official said at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, about 100 km from here.
The first successful launch of the GSLV was conducted in April 2001. The rocket then carried a 1.5 tonne satellite into space, but its payload for the second launch will be the heavier 1.8 tonne GSAT-2 satellite.
The GSLV-D2, currently on the launch pad at the space centre, is the 17th satellite launch rocket to be tested by ISRO. It is also the most technologically challenging programme undertaken by ISRO.
The rocket is expected to place the GSAT-2 satellite in geo-synchronous orbit.
The satellite carries equipment to conduct very advanced radio beacon experiments and will also investigate the ionosphere.
It will also carry a total radiation dose monitor, a transistor that can directly measure radiation inside the satellite.
This experiment will take ISRO a step closer to sending a man into space, with indigenously acquired data on how much radiation a human being in a spacecraft is likely to face and the protection required for a person going to the moon.
The GSLV-D2 is a four-stage rocket, with the different stages using a mix of solid and liquid fuels.
The third stage uses a Russian-made cryogenic engine modified to ISRO's specifications.
ISRO's foray into space began on August 10, 1979 with the test of its first satellite launch rocket, the SLV-3E1. The agency has since built up capabilities to put heavier satellites in more complex orbits deeper in space.
The next version of GSLV, which will replace the Russian-built engine with a home-grown one, is expected in 2004 or 2005 and will carry a payload of 2.25 tonnes. A third version with a payload of four tonnes is planned for 2007.