The launch of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D6 carrying GSAT-6 is scheduled at 4:52 pm on Thursday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The core of first stage is fired with solid fuel while the four strap-on motors by liquid fuel. 2 by Indian space officials. “The intricacies of cryogenic engine has been understood”. ISRO was earlier using European Ariane launchers whose launch fee itself was pegged to be around Rs 500 crore. This is the ninth flight in the series and fifth developmental flight. It proved to be a textbook launch with the 416 tonne GSLV achieving all its milestones in its 17.04 minute flight and placing GSAT-6 in the intended orbit.
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One of the failed GSLV rockets flew with an Indian cryogenic engine and the other with a Russian engine. Geostationary satellites orbit the earth at such a speed that allows them to remain above a single fixed location on the ground. That is close to prelaunch targets.
This is the largest satellite antenna realised by Isro.
Under the controversial deal, the Bengaluru-based Devas was to use the transponders of GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A in the crucial S-Band wavelength (that was primarily kept for the country’s strategic interests) for its digital multimedia service for 12 years. GSAT 6 would be great technological achievement for Defence and it will give us a good quality webcast. ISRO is targeting at least two GSLV launches every year going forward.
The space agency has simultaneously been developing next-generation GSLV – called GSLV Mark III – which will be capable of launching satellites weighing 5000 kilos.
This is the first successful GSLV rocket launch that placed a satellite in orbit in Kiran Kumar’s tenure.
“Today, I’m really proud to say that this “naughty boy” has been transformed to the most adored boy of ISRO”, Umamaheswaran said.
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“Thus, INSAT had the communications capacity of an Intelsat IV (the state of the art in communications satellites when INSAT was designed), a meteorological payload effectively equivalent to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-A (then the most advanced of weather satellites), and a direct-broadcast television system akin to the Applications Technology Satellite (ATS)-6 (once again, the frontier of technology), all wrapped into one compact package”.
