India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk III), in its first developmental flight, launched the GSAT 19 telecommunications satellite from Sriharikota on 5th June.
India’s upgraded Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk III) successfully launched the GSAT 19 telecommunications satellite from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on 5th June. It was the rocket’s second flight but its first developmental flight, following a suborbital demonstration flight in December 2014 carrying a dummy upper stage and the Atmospheric Reentry Experiment.
GSLV Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons (S200), a liquid propellant core stage (L110) with two Vikas engines derived from Ariane’s Viking engine, and an indigenously designed cryogenic upper stage (C25).
The launcher is designed to carry 4t-class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10t to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.
GSAT 19 carries transponders and a geostationary radiation spectrometer. The instrument will monitor and study the nature of charged particles and the influence of space radiation on satellites and their electronic components.