Advanced indigenous cryogenic engine was used in the rocket
India’s GSLV Mark III rocket, with the mission tasked of lofting the GSAT-19 satellite, successfully made its first all-up launch and first attempt to reach the orbit, on Monday. It has lifted off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.28 p.m. Around 16 minutes after takeoff, the vehicle placed the satellite in the geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched its most powerful rocket, Fatboy, GSLV Mk III, by firing a high thrust indigenous cryogenic engine in the first developmental flight and placed the country’s heaviest satellite in orbit.
“It is definitely the biggest event for ISRO in the last couple of decades. For ISRO’s launch vehicle programme, this probably is the most important day. This is a success in which there has been absolutely no foreign assistance. The GSLV-MkIII is entirely home grown and that is why it is so satisfying,” G Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO, told The Indian Express.
The launch of a geostationary communication satellite, GSAT-19, is perhaps ISRO’s most important mission in the last three decades, not because of the satellite that is being put in space, but the rocket, in itself, is no less special.
The launch is a giant leap for ISRO because of the engine that is powering this rocket. The new and advanced indigenous cryogenic engine used in the rocket, uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants that involves handling fuel at very low temperatures, and is crucial to providing the extra thrust required by the rocket to carry heavier satellites deeper into space.
In fact, it is just the third and uppermost stage of that engine that has made this launch extra-special. GSAT-19 was built by ISRO and is based on the three-axis-stabilised I-3K satellite bus. It carries four Ku/Ka band forward link transponders and four return link transponders. The three-stage vehicle was propelled by an indigenously designed and developed cryogenic engine — CE-20 — in its upper stage (C25 stage) before it ejected the satellite into its orbit. GSAT-19’s propulsion system will be later used for the satellite to reach its geostationary orbital home.
ISRO’s scientists took over 15 years to master the technology of this engine and tested it on a fully functional rocket. The launch is also the first flight for CE-20 engine+, which was under development since 2002 and has gone through over 200 tests on different components before its inclusion. The engine runs on a less complex technology compared to its Russian design predecessors.
When the third stage shut down 16 minutes and five seconds after liftoff, GSLV Mk.III D1 was in a geosynchronous transfer orbit with a perigee of 170 kilometers (106 miles, 91.8 nautical miles), an apogee of 35,975 kilometers (22,354 miles, 19,425 nautical miles) and inclination of 21.5 degrees. GSAT-19 separated from the rocket 15 seconds after cutoff.
The 3,136-kilogram (6,914 lb) GSAT-19 is the heaviest satellite India has ever launched, to any orbit, using its own rockets. More than half of the satellite’s mass is propellant, much of which will be expended during initial orbit-raising, when the satellite will maneuver from its initial transfer orbit into an operational geostationary orbit. A liquid apogee motor, generating 440 Newtons (99 pounds-force) of thrust, will be used for this purpose. The satellite has a dry mass of 1,394 kilograms (3,073 lb).
GSLV-MkIII is meant to carry payloads up to four to five tons and had also laid a strong foundation for its ambitious future projects, including manned missions. It will not just help ISRO probe deeper into space but will also bring it extra revenue, enabling it to make commercial launches of heavier satellites.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director Dr. K Sivan said, “It is the commencement of two complex technologies – a vehicle that can carry twice the payload weight and a high throughput satellite. It is the continued efforts of the team and industry contribution.”
The spacecraft’s mission is primarily technology demonstration, serving to test new systems in geostationary orbit for use on future Indian communications satellites. Technologies to be tested include more miniaturized forms of heat pipe intended to provide better thermal control, micro electromechanical (MEMS) accelerometers and fiber optic gyroscopes to help determine the attitude of the satellite.
Also aboard GSAT-19 is the Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP), which will detect and study charged particles in the satellite’s environment. This will help to characterize the effect of these particles on the satellite and its electrical systems. GSAT-19 will initially be stationed at a longitude of 74 degrees East.
Congratulating the scientists and others who were behind this successful mission, ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar stated to the Times of India: “It is a historic day. The entire team has worked since 2002. The vehicle carried the next generation satellite. We are looking forward to getting the satellite operational.”
Even the President and Prime Minister of India took over to Twitter to convey the pride of the country.
The nation is proud of this significant achievement #PresidentMukherjee
— President Mukherjee (@POI13) June 5, 2017
The GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 5, 2017
The GSAT-19 spacecraft has a design life of 10 years. The satellite is powered by a pair of solar arrays capable of generating 4.5 kilowatts of electrical power, and is also equipped with an Indian-manufactured lithium-ion battery which can store 100 amp-hours of energy for subsequent use.
Monday’s launch was the third of the year for India, following a PSLV launch in February that deployed the Cartosat-2D military imaging satellite along with 103 other spacecraft, and May’s GSLV Mk.II flight with the GSAT-9 satellite aboard.
According to nasaspaceflight.com, India’s next launch is expected around the end of this month, with a PSLV carrying another Cartosat spacecraft into orbit. The GSLV Mk.III’s next launch will carry India’s GSAT-20 communications satellite – this is currently scheduled for no earlier than December, or more likely early 2018.