After long anxiety and dramatic conditions GSLV-F04 carrying 22130 kg communication satellite INSAT-4CR has blasted into the skies of Bay of Bengal ,yesterday the 2nd day of September from SATISH DAWAN SPACE CENTER in ANDHRA PRADESH.
"I am happy to announce the complete success of the mission." said Isro chaiman G Madhavan nair.
on this occasion here is a brief info about the GSLV for our readers......
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
The GSLV or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to enable India to launch its INSAT-type satellites into geostationary orbit and to make India less dependent on foreign rockets.
Layout
The GSLV improved on the performance of the PSLV with the addition of liquid strap-on boosters and a cryogenic upper stage. It is a three-stage launch vehicle with the first stage being solid-propelled, the second liquid-propelled and the final stage being cryogenically propelled. The solid first and liquid second stages are carried over from the PSLV. The GSLV used cryogenic upper stage supplied by Russia, having ordered 7 upper stages. India originally tried to buy the technology to build a cryogenic upper stage from Russia, but under pressure from the United States, that technology was not provided. Therefore, ISRO has been working on developing a cryogenic upper stage for the past eleven years.
First stage
S125 stage is 2.8 m in dia. and is made of M250 grade maraging steel and it has a nominal propellant loading of 129 t.
The L40 strap-ons (derived from the L37.5 second stage) are loaded with 40 tons of hypergolic propellants (UDMH & N2O4) stored in two independent tanks of 2.1 m diameter in tandem and has a pump-fed engine of 680 kN thrust.
[edit] Second stage
The second stage is 2.8 m in diameter and is loaded with 37.5 t of liquid propellants (UDMH & N2O4) in two compartments of an aluminium alloy stage tankage separated by a common bulk head. This is powered by Vikas engine, which is a pump-fed engine of 720 kN thrust.
[edit] Third stage
The third stage is 2.8 m in diameter and uses liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) in two separate tanks of aluminium alloy interconnected by an inter-stage propellant loading is 12.5 t. ISRO is planning to use its own cryogenic engine from the fifth planned GSLV flight, which is being activelly developed and tested in ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Centre(LPSC).
The GSLV uses four L40 liquid strap-on boosters and can place approximately 5000 kg (11,000 lbm) into an easterly LEO orbit. Using the Russian 12KRB upper stage, with KVD-1 cryogenic rocket engine, GSLV can place 2200 kg (4,850 lbm) into an 18 degree Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO) orbit.
[edit] Launches
The first two flights of the GSLV were developmental. The first, partially successful, flight was on 18 April 2001 which launched GSAT-1. The second, which was fully successful, was on 8 May 2003 launching the experimental communication satellite GSAT-2. The first operational flight (GSLV-F01) was the launch of the EDUSAT communications satellite on 20 September 2004.
The fourth flight (GSLV-F02) on 10 July 2006 was unsuccessful in launching the 2168 kg (4,780 lb) communications satellite INSAT-4C as both rocket and satellite had to be destroyed over the Bay of Bengal after the rocket's trajectory veered outside of permitted limits.[1] A defective propellant regulator of the fourth strap-on motor caused the INSAT-4C-carrying vehicle to crash a minute after lift-off from Sriharikota on the Andhra Pradesh coast on 10 July 2006.[2] The fifth flight of GSLV (GSLV-F04) was successfully completed on 2 September 2007, carrying the INSAT-4CR (the replacement satellite for INSAT-4C) satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.[3]
The four flights of GSLV so far have used Russian cryogenic engine for the last stage. The next flight used an indigenous cryogenic engine developed by ISRO.
On September 2nd 2007, the GSLV-FV04 was successful in placing the INSAT-4CR ( a payload of roughly 2160 kg carrying 12 KU band transponders capable of reaching across India ) into a geostationary orbit despite an initial delay due to the launch computer detecting a problem in the inlet valve of the cryogenic engine. The launch was determined to be a complete success despite the apogee mark being 786 miles lower than pre-launch estimates. The inclination was also off by one degree from the target of 21.7 degrees. Despite these inconsistencies the payload is reported be working properly and placed in a geo-stationary orbit. No explanation was given about the discrepancies and the launch was declared as success
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