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India Successfully Launches New Satellite Launch Vehicle
India on Wednesday successfully launched its new generation satellite launch vehicle, the GSLV-D1 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle), from the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, marking a major breakthrough for the country's space industry.
According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), the lift-off of GSLV took place at 3:43 p.m. Wednesday as scheduled and was quite successful. However, a prearranged live telecast of the lift-off by state television Doordarshan was called off earlier on Wednesday due to "weather conditions".
About half an hour later, a SHAR spokesman announced that the India-made experimental communication satellite GSAT-1 carried by the GSLV-D1 was injected into its Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit 1040 seconds after the lift-off.
All stages of the GSLV-D1, including the most critical cryogenic stage, "performed perfectly well and as per schedule", he added.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also seen on Doordarshan TV, sending a congratulatory message to Indian space scientists.
The first test launch of the GSLV-D1 three weeks ago on March 28 was forced to abort seconds after ignition due to a last minute technical defect in one of the four strap-on engines of the first- stage rocket.
Fortunately, other parts of the launch vehicle remained intact and the defective strap-on had since been replaced with a standby one.
India's research on GSLV has taken 10 years and cost 14 billion rupees (about 300 million U.S. dollars). The current model is a combination of Indian and Russian technologies, with its first and second stages using home-developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle technology and the third stage using an imported Russian cryogenic engine, which enables the liquid fuel to last longer.
The GSAT-1 satellite carried by the new launch vehicle weighs 1, 540 kg, making GSLV-D1 the heaviest spacecraft India has ever sent into outer space.
Indian media claimed that with the success of Wednesday's test flight, India had entered into the elite club of five nations -- the United States, European Union, Russia, Japan and China -- which have crossed the geostationary launch milestone.
The success would also open up tremendous business opportunities for India in the multi-billion dollar global market of satellite launching, they added.
GSLV is expected to be inducted into the country's regular satellite launch system after two more test flights, Indian space scientists said.
The scientists also planned to develop indigenous cryogenic technology for GSLV and to improve its payload up to 2,000 kg and above in about two to three years, sources said.
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