News Analysis India

Tag: GSLV

  • ISRO Rockets Into New Year: XPoSat Launch Today, Check Timing And More Here |

    New Delhi: In a historic move, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch a space mission on January 1, deploying the PSLV-DL variant rocket carrying the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) and 10 additional payloads. Previously, ISRO conducted space missions in January using its PSLV and GSLV rockets, but never on the inaugural day of the calendar year.

    At 9.10 a.m. the Indian rocket PSLV-DL variant with the code PSLV-C58, standing 44.4-metre tall and weighing 260 ton, will blast off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh XPoSat weighing about 740 kg and 10 scientific payloads fixed to the PSLV Orbital Platform.

    PSLV-C58/  XPoSat Mission:
    The launch of the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is set for January 1, 2024, at 09:10 Hrs. IST from the first launch-pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.https://t.co/gWMWX8N6Iv

    The launch can be viewed LIVE
    from 08:40 Hrs. IST on
    YouTube:… pic.twitter.com/g4tUArJ0Ea
    — ISRO (@isro) December 31, 2023

    At about 21 minutes into its flight, the rocket will orbit XPoSat at an altitude of about 650 km. In its normal configuration, the PSLV is a four-stage/engine expendable rocket powered by solid and liquid fuels, alternatively, with six booster motors strapped onto the first stage to give higher thrust during the initial flight moments.

    The ISRO has five types of PSLV rockets — Standard, Core Alone, XL, DL, and QL. The major difference between them is the number of strap-on boosters used which, in turn, largely depends on the weight of the satellites to be orbited.

    The PSLV uses 6,4,2 solid rocket strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage in PSLV-XL, QL & DL variants, respectively. However, strap-ons are not used in the core-alone version (PSLV-CA).

  • GSLV-F12 carrying navigation satellite NVS-01 lifts-off from Sriharikota

    By PTI

    SRIHARIKOTA: ISRO’s GSLV rocket carrying navigation satellite NVS-01 lifted off from this spaceport on Monday.

    ISRO aims to augment the continuity of Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services with the launch of the satellite.

    The 51.7 metre-tall rocket lifted off majestically from the second launch pad at this spaceport here, located about 130 km from Chennai. Amid clear skies, it took off at a prefixed time of 10.42 am.

    The second-generation navigation satellite series is considered a significant launch that would ensure the continuity of NavIC services — an Indian regional satellite navigation system, similar to GPS, providing accurate and real-time navigation in the country and a region extending to 1,500 km around the mainland.

    The signals from NavIC are designed to provide user position accuracy to better than 20 metres and timing accuracy to better than 50 nanoseconds, ISRO said.

    Nearly 20 minutes after lift-off, the rocket is scheduled to place the 2,232 kg satellite in a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) at an altitude of about 251 km.

    NVS-01 carries navigation payloads L1,L5 and S bands. The second-generation satellite would also carry an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock. Earlier scientists at ISRO had used an imported atomic clock.

    ISRO developed the NavIC system to meet the positioning, navigation and timing requirements of the country, particularly with regard to civil aviation and military requirements.

    NavIC was earlier known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and is designed with a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations that operate 24×7.

    It offers two services — Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service for strategic users.

    NavIC SPS signals are interoperable with the US global navigation satellite system signals, GPS, Glonass from Russia, Galileo (European Union) and BeiDou, China.

    Monday’s mission is the sixth operational flight of the GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage. The mission life of NVS-01 is expected to be better than 12 years, ISRO said.

    SRIHARIKOTA: ISRO’s GSLV rocket carrying navigation satellite NVS-01 lifted off from this spaceport on Monday.

    ISRO aims to augment the continuity of Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) services with the launch of the satellite.

    The 51.7 metre-tall rocket lifted off majestically from the second launch pad at this spaceport here, located about 130 km from Chennai. Amid clear skies, it took off at a prefixed time of 10.42 am.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The second-generation navigation satellite series is considered a significant launch that would ensure the continuity of NavIC services — an Indian regional satellite navigation system, similar to GPS, providing accurate and real-time navigation in the country and a region extending to 1,500 km around the mainland.

    The signals from NavIC are designed to provide user position accuracy to better than 20 metres and timing accuracy to better than 50 nanoseconds, ISRO said.

    Nearly 20 minutes after lift-off, the rocket is scheduled to place the 2,232 kg satellite in a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) at an altitude of about 251 km.

    NVS-01 carries navigation payloads L1,L5 and S bands. The second-generation satellite would also carry an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock. Earlier scientists at ISRO had used an imported atomic clock.

    ISRO developed the NavIC system to meet the positioning, navigation and timing requirements of the country, particularly with regard to civil aviation and military requirements.

    NavIC was earlier known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and is designed with a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations that operate 24×7.

    It offers two services — Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service for strategic users.

    NavIC SPS signals are interoperable with the US global navigation satellite system signals, GPS, Glonass from Russia, Galileo (European Union) and BeiDou, China.

    Monday’s mission is the sixth operational flight of the GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage. The mission life of NVS-01 is expected to be better than 12 years, ISRO said.

  • Setback for ISRO as GSLV fails to place earth observation satellite into orbit due to performance anomaly

    By PTI

    SRIHARIKOTA: ISRO’s GSLV rocket on Thursday failed to inject into the orbit, the country’s latest earth observation satellite EOS-03 due to a failure to ignite the cryogenic stage of the launch vehicle, prompting the premier space agency to declare the mission could not be achieved as intended.

    However, the first and second stages of the rocket had performed normally, the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said.

    In a notification, ISRO said, “GSLV-F10 launch took place today at 0543 hrs as scheduled. Performance of first and second stages was normal. However, Cryogenic Upper Stage ignition did not happen due to technical anomaly. The mission could not be accomplished as intended.”

    According to ISRO, the cryogenic upper stage ignition was scheduled to take place 4.56 minutes after the lift-off.

    A formal announcement was also made at the Mission Control Centre by the range operations director, stating, “performance anomaly observed in the cryogenic stage. The mission could not be accomplished fully.”

    ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, “(the mission) could not be fully accomplished mainly because there is a technical anomaly observed in the cryogenic stage. This I wanted to tell all my friends.”

    ISRO, after facing hurdles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, resumed its launch operations for the rocket to place the satellite with an objective to provide near real-time imaging of large areas of the country at frequent intervals and quick monitoring of natural disasters.

    As the 26-hour countdown concluded on Thursday, the 51.70 metre tall rocket with four stages lifted off majestically at 05.43hrs, leaving behind a trail of thick orange coloured fumes.

    The four-stage rocket was the first to carry a four-metre dia ‘Ogive Payload Fairing’ at the top of the vehicle to accommodate larger payloads.

    The rocket was supposed to place the EOS “an agile state-of-the-art satellite into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, 19 minutes after lift-off.

    Thursday’s unsuccessful attempt to launch the satellite came in the wake of scientists postponing the earlier planned missions earlier.

    The satellite, originally titled GISAT-1 weighing 2,268 kg was slated to be launched on March 5, 2020 but it was postponed a day before the lift-off due to ‘technical reasons’.

    The Covid-induced lockdown further delayed the mission and once again it was scheduled for a March 28, 2021 launch but a ‘minor issue’ with the satellite forced yet another postponement.

    The objective of Thursday’s mission was to provide near real-time imaging of large area regions at frequent intervals, for quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events and obtain spectral signatures for agriculture, forestry, water bodies as well as for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloud burst and thunderstorm monitoring.

    Before Thursday’s launch, ISRO had launched Brazil’s earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites in February this year.

    Thursday’s mission is the eighth flight with indigenous cryogenic engine, 14th flight of the GSLV and also marks the 79th launch vehicle mission from Sriharikota.

    Previous launches of GSLV rockets include the GSLV-MkIII-M1/ Chandrayaan-2 mission in July 2019 while GSLV-F11 successfully placed GSAT-7A in December 2018.

    An earth observation satellite — EOS-01 — was launched in November 2020 by polar satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C49, ISRO said.

    ISRO had made arrangements to watch the launch through its various social media platforms.

  • Setback for ISRO as GSLV-F10/EOS-03 mission fails due to performance anomaly in cryogenic stage

    By PTI

    SRIHARIKOTA: Indian Space Research Organisation’s second mission of the year to place an earth observation satellite by a GSLV rocket faced a setback as the mission could not be accomplished fully due to performance anomaly in the cryogenic stage of the rocket, the space agency said on Thursday.

    The 51.70-metre tall rocket GSLV-F10/EOS-03 successfully lifted off from the second launch pad at the spaceport as planned at 05.43 hrs soon after the 26-hour countdown concluded.

    Ahead of the lift-off, the Launch Authorisation Board cleared the decks for a normal lift-off as planned.

    The performance of the rocket in the first and second stages of the rocket was normal, scientists at the Mission Control Centre said.

    However, minutes later the scientists were seen in discussion and it was announced in the Mission Control Centre by the Range Operations Director “mission could not be accomplished fully due to performance anomaly”.

    “Performance anomaly observed in the cryogenic stage. The mission could not be accomplished fully,” the range operations director announced in the Mission Control Centre. Later, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, “(The mission) could not be fully accomplished mainly because there is a technical anomaly observed in the cryogenic stage. This I wanted to tell to all my friends.”

    After the countdown commenced, scientists were engaged in the filling of propellants for the four-stage rocket at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota about 100 kms from Chennai.

    The objective of Thursday’s mission was to provide near real-time imaging of large area regions at frequent intervals, for quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events and obtain spectral signatures for agriculture, forestry, water bodies as well as for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloud burst and thunderstorm monitoring.

    Before today’s launch, ISRO had launched Brazil’s earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites in February this year.

    Thursday’s rocket launch was also planned to be held in April or May however, the outbreak pushed the scientists to resume it in August.