Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

GSLV Mk I / II

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle ( GSLV ) is a launch vehicle provided by the Indian space agency ISRO , is designed to communication satellites of the type Insat into a geostationary orbit to transport and to make India in the field of foreign launch service providers more independent.

The two versions Mk I and MK II were developed by the GSLV. They are not to be confused with the GSLV Mk III , which despite the similar name is a technically independent rocket.

construction

The GSLV builds on the PSLV , but additional liquid fuel boosters and a cryogenic upper stage have been added. It is a three-stage launcher with a solid-powered first stage, a liquid-fuel-powered second stage, and the cryogenic third stage. The first two stages were taken over by PSLV, the third stage was made in Russia . India ordered a total of seven upper levels from Russia and wanted to buy the plans for them too, but this technology transfer did not take place due to US intervention . India therefore had to develop the cryogenic upper school itself, but this took eleven years.

The GSLV uses four L40 liquid fuel boosters ( LRB ) and can carry up to 5 t in a slightly eastern LEO . With the help of the Russian cryogenic upper level 12KRB , it can transport 2.2 t into an 18 ° GTO .

booster

Four liquid fuel boosters are used. Each of the four L40 boosters contains two independent tanks that together contain 40 t of hypergol fuel ( UH 25 and nitrous tetroxide ). The boosters have a diameter of 2.1 m and each have a 680 kN Viking engine.

First stage

The first stage S125 (MkIa) or S139 (MkIb) has a diameter of 2.8 m and is made of maraging steel . It is a solid fuel rocket and contains 125 t or 139 t solid propellant.

Second step

The second stage also has a diameter of 2.8 m and can be loaded with 37.5 t of liquid fuel (UH 25 and nitrogen tetroxide). The two separate tanks are made of a special aluminum alloy . The step provides a thrust of 720 kN.

Third step

The third stage 12KRB from the Russian manufacturer GKNPZ Khrunichev uses liquid hydrogen (LH ₂ ) and liquid oxygen (LOX), also here in two independent tanks made of an aluminum alloy. A total of 12.6 t of fuel can be taken up, the KVD-1 engine delivers a thrust of 7.5 kN, has a specific impulse of 454 s and can be ignited twice in flight.

The first three flights of the GSLV all still used the Russian cryogenic upper stage. At the fourth launch on April 15, 2010, an Indian third stage was used for the first time, which also burns LH2 and LOX and was supposed to deliver a little more thrust than the 12KRB. As a result, the missile, now called MkII, should drop heavier payloads in geotransfer orbit. After the ignition of the third stage apparently the vernier nozzles were not working, so that the rocket got out of control and crashed into the sea.

Modifications

Several design improvements were introduced with the GSLV-D5. These consist of a redesign of the lower fairing that protects the cryogenic upper stage during atmospheric flight, a revision of the wire tunnels of the cryogenic upper stage to better withstand the forces occurring during flight, a revised aerodynamic design of the entire rocket and the installation of video systems Monitoring the movements of the missile's outer shell during the various phases of flight. The improvements to the cryogenic upper stage include a modified design of the fuel turbo pumps (FBTP) to accommodate the change in size of the bearings and housings in response to temperature changes caused by the cryogenic fuels, and a change in the ignition sequence to ensure successful and sustained ignition of the main (ME) and control engines (SE) and the gas generator (GG). In addition, some critical systems, such as the polyimide fuel lines and liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen level sensors, have been replaced with those built in India to better prevent possible contamination in transit.

Technical specifications

Total height: 49 m
Takeoff weight: 401 t
Number of levels: 3
Target orbit: GTO 180 × 36,000 km

Starts

The first two flights of a GSLV were test flights. The first, partially successful, was launched in April 2001 with the GSAT-1 satellite on board. The second, completely successful start of a GSLV took place in May 2003 and brought the experimental communication satellite GSAT-2 into space. The first operational start was on September 20, 2004 with the EDUSAT communications satellite as a payload.

Performed starts

This is a complete start list of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, Mk I and II. For the launch of the GSLV Mk III , see there.

List updated on December 19, 2018.

Serial No.	Date ( UTC )	Type	Ser.-No.	Launch site	payload	Type of payload	Payload mass (gross ¹ )	Orbit ²	Remarks
1	April 18, 2001	GSLV Mk I	D1	SHAR	GSAT-1	Experimental communications satellite	1540 kg	GTO	Partial success Third stage switched off 10 seconds too early, the mission was classified as a success by ISRO
2	May 8, 2003	GSLV Mk I	D2	SHAR	GSAT-2	Experimental communications satellite	1825 kg	GTO	success
3	September 20, 2004	GSLV Mk I	F01	SHAR	GSAT-3 (EDUSAT)	Experimental communications satellite	1950 kg	GTO	success
4th	July 10, 2006 12:08 pm	GSLV Mk I	F02	SHAR SLP	Insat-4C	Communications satellite	2168 kg	GTO	Bust rocket blasted a few minutes after the start, due to a deviation from the flight path by a booster failure.
5	September 2, 2007 12:50 PM	GSLV Mk I	F04	SHAR SLP	Insat-4CR	Communications satellite	2130 kg	GTO	Partial success replacement for the destroyed Insat-4C; the satellite reached a slightly lower orbit than intended, the mission was nevertheless rated as a success by ISRO
6th	April 15, 2010 10:57 am	GSLV Mk II	D3	SHAR	GSAT-4 (Healthsat)	Experimental communications satellite	2180 kg	GTO	Failure of control and data loss shortly after the ignition of the third stage (first flight of the in-house development). Possible failure of the vernier nozzles
7th	December 25, 2010 10:34 am	GSLV Mk I	F06	SHAR	GSAT-5P	Communications satellite	?	GTO	Failure of the rocket to self-destruct a few seconds after deviating from its orbit, whereby the GSAT-5P satellite on board was also destroyed.
8th	January 5, 2014 10:48 am	GSLV Mk II	D5	SHAR	GSAT-14	Communications satellite	1982 kg	GTO	success
9	August 27, 2015 11:22 am	GSLV Mk II	D6	SHAR	GSAT-6	Communications satellite	2117 kg	GTO	success
10	September 8, 2016 11:20 am	GSLV Mk II	F05	SHAR	INSAT-3DR	Weather satellite	2211 kg	GTO	success
11	May 5, 2017 11:27 am	GSLV Mk II	F09	SHAR	GSAT-9 (South Asia Satellite)	Communications satellite	2230 kg	GTO	success
12	March 29, 2018 11:26 am	GSLV Mk II	F08	SHAR	GSAT-6A	Communications satellite	2140 kg	GTO	success
13	December 19, 2018 10:40 am	GSLV Mk II	F11	SHAR	GSAT-7A	Communications satellite	2250 kg	GTO	success

¹Take-off mass of the payload including carried fuel ( wet mass ).

²Track height at which the payload was suspended; not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.

Planned launches

List updated: March 13, 2020

Serial No.	Date ( UTC )	Type	Launch site	payload	Type of payload	Payload mass (gross ¹ )	Orbit ²
14th	2020	GSLV Mk II	SHAR	GISAT 1	Earth observation satellite	2100 kg	GTO
15th	3rd quarter 2020	GSLV Mk II	SHAR	GISAT 2	Earth observation satellite		GTO
	2020-2021	GSLV Mk II	SHAR	GSAT-7C	military communications satellite		GTO

Web links

Commons : Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

GSLV on the ISRO website
GSLV in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)

Individual evidence

↑ TS Subramanian: India's indigenous GSLV D3 rocket fails in mission. The Hindu, April 15, 2010, accessed April 15, 2010 .
↑ ISRO: GSLV-D5 brochure (PDF)
↑ ISRO: GSLV F05 / INSAT 3DR. (PDF) October 22, 2016, p. 4 , accessed on October 22, 2016 (English).
^ Launch Schedule. Spaceflight Now, accessed February 10, 2020 .
↑ షార్‌లో రాకెట్‌ అనుసంధాన పనుల నిలిపివేత . eenadu.net, around March 13, 2020 ( Telugu ).
↑ ISRO: Annual Report 2019-2020 (PDF), page 25. Retrieved on March 1, 2020.
↑ Planned launches of GSLV . ISRO, 2019 (PDF)
↑ An initiative towards defense communication: ISRO to launch GSAT-7A, an advance military communication satellite. In: India Ki Story. September 22, 2018, archived from the original on April 1, 2019 ; accessed on April 1, 2019 .
^ After PSLV-C43 success, Isolation centers set for GSLV-MK II launch on December 19. In: Times of India. December 13, 2018, accessed April 1, 2019 .

[1] TS Subramanian: India's indigenous GSLV D3 rocket fails in mission. The Hindu, April 15, 2010, accessed April 15, 2010 .

[ISRO-2] ISRO: GSLV-D5 brochure (PDF)

[3] ISRO: GSLV F05 / INSAT 3DR. (PDF) October 22, 2016, p. 4 , accessed on October 22, 2016 (English).

[sfn_ls-4] Launch Schedule. Spaceflight Now, accessed February 10, 2020 .

[5] షార్‌లో రాకెట్‌ అనుసంధాన పనుల నిలిపివేత . eenadu.net, around March 13, 2020 ( Telugu ).

[6] ISRO: Annual Report 2019-2020 (PDF), page 25. Retrieved on March 1, 2020.

[7] Planned launches of GSLV . ISRO, 2019 (PDF)

[8] An initiative towards defense communication: ISRO to launch GSAT-7A, an advance military communication satellite. In: India Ki Story. September 22, 2018, archived from the original on April 1, 2019 ; accessed on April 1, 2019 .

[toi1-9] After PSLV-C43 success, Isolation centers set for GSLV-MK II launch on December 19. In: Times of India. December 13, 2018, accessed April 1, 2019 .