ISRO’s GSLV Rocket Takes Navigation Satellite Successfully
Context:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully placed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kg, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
- To develop a domestic launch capability for geosynchronous satellites, the GSLV project was started in 1990.
- The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which had been successfully placing satellites into polar orbits, was already in use when the Global Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was created.
- The GSLV needed a cryogenic third stage to provide the thrust required to launch satellites into geostationary transfer orbits (GTO).
- Compared to other propellant combinations, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen (LOX/LH2) are used in cryogenic engines to provide better specific impulses and improved efficiency.
- India lacked the know-how and technology necessary to create a cryogenic engine at the start of the GSLV project.
- India and Glavkosmos, the Russian space agency, engaged in a technology transfer pact in 1991 to address this restriction.
- India was able to obtain the required technology and technical support to create a cryogenic engine for the GSLV thanks to the deal with Glavkosmos.
- Sharing design data, manufacturing methods, and test facilities for cryogenic engines were all part of the technology transfer.
- With the cooperation and help of Russian specialists, India’s indigenous cryogenic engine programme got off the ground.
- India successfully created its indigenous cryogenic engine, known as the CE-7.5, for the GSLV after several years of collaborative development efforts.
- The CE-7.5 cryogenic engine was created to give the GSLV’s third stage the necessary push so that it could inject satellites into GTO.
Points to Ponder:
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- The NVS-01 navigation satellite was successfully launched into geosynchronous transfer orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- It is estimated that the satellite weighs 2,232 kg.
- At 10.42 a.m., the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) blasted out from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
- The NVS-01 satellite was precisely placed into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit after a roughly 19-minute flight.
- NVS-01 will undergo subsequent orbit-raising procedures to place it in the desired Geosynchronous orbit.
- GSLV successfully deployed the satellite in the desired orbit, and ISRO Chairman S. Somanath praised the team in charge.
- The mission follows a previous failure on the F10 mission when the cryogenic stage experienced a problem. The cryogenic stage has been modified and corrected to increase its dependability.
- The first of five satellites is called NVS-01.
- The GSLV-F12 launch marks India’s GSLV’s 15th flight and its 9th flight using a domestic cryo stage.
- This is the sixth time the GSLV has flown using a domestic cryogenic stage.
- L1, L5, and S-band navigation payloads were carried by the NVS-01 satellite.
- An indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01 for the first time.
- The weather satellite INSAT-3DS will be launched by ISRO using the GSLV.
- By launching four more NVS series satellites, ISRO hopes to finish the navigation satellite constellation.
- A new rocket being developed by ISRO will have a larger payload capacity.
- In addition, ISRO intends to increase the LVM3 rocket’s lifting capacity from the present 4 tonnes to up to 5.5 tonnes.
- The crew escape devices for the Gaganyaan project rocket will be tested by ISRO in July.