When the entire nation was submerged in the splendor of IPL and the Indian New year in the middle of April, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was gearing up for something new and something more challenging. April 15, 2010 was supposed to be a red letter day in the history of Indian space mission when the GSLV MK II was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

 

GSLV stands for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Satellites move around a planet on certain pathways called orbits. The moon is a natural satellite and moves in an orbit of a mean distance of 384,000 km from the surface of the earth. Coming back, there are basically three types of orbits on which satellites move around the earth:

 

1) Polar orbits: this orbit lies more or less above the north and south poles and allows the satellite to look over almost every part of the earth.

 

2) Sun-synchronous orbits: the climate of a place can be determined by satellites which move in sun-synchronous satellites. The satellites move over a given place at one particular time of the day.

 

3) Geosynchronous orbit: the satellites moving in geosynchronous orbits have a period of revolution of 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds, same as the time-period for earth rotation. We can watch a match being played in South Africa or any other part of the world with the help of these satellites.

 

Going by the name, GSLV is a launch vehicle. A launch vehicle is a means or a carrier of the satellites. We use a vehicle; say a truck, to move luggage from one place to another. Similarly, the satellites, made on earth need a means to reach the outer space and this means is the launch vehicle.

 

The satellite and all other indispensable stuff which the launch vehicle carries along with it to the outer space is called the payload. So in a nutshell it can be said that a launch vehicle is a combination of rockets which carry the payload to the outer space from the earth surface. As such, a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle is a launch vehicle which carries payload (satellite) to the geosynchronous orbit of the outer space.

 

Built to a height of 49 metres and with a mean diameter of 2.8 metres, the GSLV weighs around 4 lakh kilograms. The mean payload capacity developed by a GSLV is around 3 thousand kilograms with a high level of 5100 kilograms. The complete propulsion of a GSLV is marked by the successful combustion at three stages.

 

 

In the first stage, generally solid propellants (burning material) like HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, a polymer) are used. This stage occurs at the very initial stage on the earth surface. The very start or the burning yellow cloud which we see on television is the first stage. Around 139 tons of fuel is used.

 

 

In the second stage, the propulsion is carried out by an indigenous Vikas Engine which has a UDMH propellant and the oxidizer is nitrogen tetra oxide. The size of the engine is around 3 metres and carries about 38 metric tons of fuel.

 

The third stage is characterized by an indigenously built cryogenic reactor with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel. The mean weight of the propellant is around 12 tons.

 

The three stages occur subsequently and the individual success of all the three stages leads to the successful launch of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle. The launching of April 15 2010 carrying a payload of 2220 kilograms (a satellite called GSAT-

 

4) turned out to be a failure due to the non-ignition of the third stage.

 

Looking back into the history of GSLV, the first launch took place on 18th April 2001 carrying the GSAT-1 satellite. The mission achieved success in stages but ultimately turned out to be a failure on the part of ISRO as the satellite could not reach the designated orbit or become operational. Success kissed the forehead of ISRO after two years of determined perspiration when on 8th May 2003; the relaunch of GSLV MK 1 was successfully achieved carrying the GSAT-2.

 

Till date, six GSLV launches have taken place with a success ratio of 50%. However, with greater thrust and implementation of careful methodologies, the partial failures can be taken care of and a higher accuracy achieved thus bringing in more success and laurels to the organization and the nation.

 

Sources: Wikipedia and marine.rutgers.edu

 

 

Related posts:

1. Analysis: Chandrayaan by ISRO   Author: Mona, New Delhi.   Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned spacecraft mission with its well defined objectives intends to put its spacecraft into an orbit around the moon and to...