India to Launch the Massive GSLV MK-III on its 1st Operation Flight

Image credit & copyright: India Space Research Organization (ISRO).

LAUNCH ALERT! Monday, June 5, 2017 at 11:58 UTC (07:58 EDT), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will be launching for only the second time, the massive Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) MK-III, carrying the GSAT-19E experimental communication satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India.

This will be the 2nd flight of the GSLV MK-III rocket and its 1st orbital flight.

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-MKIII) or Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3):

The GSLV-MKIII is India’s heavy lift, 3 stage rocket standing 43.3 m (142 ft.) tall and 4 m (13 ft. 1 in.) in diameter and has a liftoff mass of 640 tonnes. It can deliver 8,000 kg (17,600 lb.) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4,000 kg (8,818 lb.) into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Payload Fairing: The GSLV MK-III payload fairing is two-shell composite enclosure that protects the spacecraft until it is high enough to be safe from atmospheric turbulence and is 11 m (36 ft.) in length and 5 m (16 ft. 5 in.) in diameter.

C 25 Cryogenic Upper Stage: Third stage is 13.5 m (44 ft. 3 in.) in length and 4 m (13 ft.) in diameter. Its single CE-20 engine utilizes liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX), delivers 200 kN of thrust and has a burn time of 586 seconds.

L110 Core Stage: Second stage is 17 m (56 ft.) in length and 4 m (13 ft.) in diameter. Its two Vikas engines ignite 113 seconds after liftoff and deliver a combined 1,598 nK of thrust. They use unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) for fuel and nitrogen tetroxide N2O4 as oxidizer and carry a burn time of 200 seconds. When the boosters begin to lose thrust it is sensed by the core stage which then ignites the two Vikas engines and the two stages burn together for a short time before the boosters fall away.

Strap-On S200 Boosters (First Stage): The GSLV MK-III uses two solid fueled, strap-on boosters as its first stage. Each are 25 m (82 ft.) in length and 3.2 m (10 ft.) in diameter and are powered each by one S200 engine, delivering 5,150 kN of thrust, utilizes hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) for fuel with a burn time of 130 seconds. When the boosters begin to lose thrust it is sensed by the core stage which then ignites the two Vikas engines and the two stages burn together for a short time before the boosters fall away.