GSLV-Mark III maiden launch: ISRO's heaviest rocket capable of providing internet services
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched country's heaviest rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched country's heaviest rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) along with a communications satellite GSAT-19 on Monday at 5.28 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. PTI
It is India's heaviest rocket till date and its weight is equivalent to the weight of five fully-loaded Boeing Jumbo Jets. Former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, who conceived GSLV Mk-III, confirms it will be country's vehicle to ferry Indians into space. PTI
The satellite has been designed at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. Tapan Misra, director of the Centre, said that it would be a game changer communications satellite for India if it succeeds. The single GSAT-19 satellite will be equivalent to having a constellation of 6-7 of the older variety of communication satellites in space. PTI
With GSAT-19, onboard data can be pumped down in much higher capacities. If it succeeds, it would become country's first satellite capable of providing Internet services using a space-based platform. PTI
The successful launch of GSLV Mk III cost ISRO Rs 300 crore and has also proved the efficiency of CE20 indigenous cryogenic engine, a completely new technology designed to double the thrust and capability to lift double the payload than the previously launched GSLV Mk II. The development has put India into an elite club of nations including US, European Space Agency, Russia, China and Japan. PTI
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Kiran Kumar Rao displayed models of the GSAT-19 and GSLVMk-III along with scientists at a press conference after the launch of the GSAT-19 at Sriharikota. PTI
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The 43.5 metre tall rocket blasted off at a prefixed time of 9 am today, from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 135 kms from Chennai, at the end of a 24.30 hour countdown