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GSLV took some heavy lifting

Denied Cryogenic technology in 1993, space agency undertook long, massive development effort.

Nellore: From the days of launching sounding rockets in the 1960s, India has travelled a long and difficult path to launch heavy launch capability with the GSLV Mk III rocket and achieve self-reliance in satellite launch vehicle technology.

Cryogenic rocket technology was denied to India in 1993, and Isro scientists and engineers had to undertake a two-decade long effort to build indigenous capability, learning the hard way.

Satellite Launch Vehicle -3 (SLV-3) was the first launch vehicle developed indigenously by India. It was a four-stage vehicle and all the stages used solid propellants.

The successful launch of Rohini RS-1 satellite by SLV-3 in 1980 enabled India to join the select club of six countries- United States, former USSR, France, Japan, China and Britain- with capability to launch satellites on their own.

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SLV-3 was followed by the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), which facilitated the development and testing of advanced technologies essential for large launch vehicles. All the four stages of ASLV as well as its two strap-ons used solid propellants.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was India’s third generation launch vehicles, and the first to be powered by liquid stages. The first and third stages as well as the strap-ons of PSLV are solid whereas its second and fourth stages run on liquid fuel. The need for a heavier launch vehicle was felt during the 1990s to meet the country’s requirement for heavier communication satellites with large numbers of transponders.

That led to the design of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle series, the fourth generation of Indian launch vehicles. These rockets use solid, liquid and cryogenic engines. The GSLV Mk III’s success in its very first flight is the latest feather in Isro’s cap.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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