The Hindu : National : GSLV ready for lift-off on July 10

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Wednesday, Jul 05, 2006

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National

GSLV ready for lift-off on July 10

T.S. Subramanian

It will place INSAT-4C in orbit

An artist's concept of INSAT-4C.

CHENNAI: The gigantic Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will lift off from the newly built second launch pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on July 10 to place INSAT-4C in orbit. The launch time is set between 4.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on that day. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has codenamed the vehicle GSLV-F-02. The "F" stands for flight.

With the three-stage GSLV-F-02 fully integrated and the satellite mated with the vehicle, the launch campaign is peaking for the ignition on July 10. The vehicle is already on the launch pad.

Filling of the vehicle with fuel will begin T minus 24 hours, that is, 24 hours before the lift-off. The Launch Authorisation Board is scheduled to meet on July 6 to clear the launch.

Communication satellite

INSAT-4C is a satellite for boosting communication in the country. It will give a fillip to direct-to-home (DTH) telecasting, telephone communication, and business communication using very small aperture terminals. The ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, has built INSAT-4C, which weighs 2,170 kg.

The GSLV-F-02 is made of three stages. It weighs 414 tonnes and is 49 metres tall. The core first stage is powered by solid propellants. Strapped around the first stage are four motors, fuelled by liquid propellants. These strap-on motors boost the vehicle's thrust during lift-off. The second stage works on liquid fuel.

The topmost third stage is powered by cryogenic propellants, that is, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Russia has supplied the cryogenic engine that powers the third stage.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, has built the GSLV-F-02. This is the fourth flight of the GSLV. The three previous GSLV flights took place in 2001, 2003 and 2004, and they placed in orbit GSAT-1, GSAT-2 and EDUSAT respectively.

The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has two launch pads.

The sophisticated second launch pad was blooded on May 5, 2005 when a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) took off from it and placed CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT in orbit.

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