>> One of India’s most ambitious dreams became a reality
on Sunday when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5), powered
by an indigenous cryogenic engine, effortlessly put the 1,982-kg GSAT-14
communication satellite into a perfect orbit after 17 minutes of flight.
>> The launch marks a significant
achievement of India's prowess over indigenous cryogenic technology.
>> The grand success caps 20 years of
hard work by ISRO’s engineers, after being denied cryogenic technology under
pressure from the U.S., suffering a heartbreaking failure with an indigenous
cryogenic engine flight in April 2010 and having had to scrub its second
attempt with an indigenous cryogenic engine in August 2013. “I am proud to say
that ISRO has done it…,” ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced.
>> Last year, on August 19, an
anomaly in the second stage of liquid propellant of GSLV-D5 prompted Isro to
call off the launch and it could not go beyond ignition.
>> The precision of the cryogenic
upper stage was such that it put the GSAT-14 into an orbit with a perigee of
179 km, against the target of 180 km, and the apogee achieved was off by a mere
50 km for a target of 36,000 km.
>> The mission’s success means India
now has the ability to put satellites weighing more than two tonnes in orbit,
joining the elite club of the U.S., Russia, France, Japan and China who have
mastered this perilous technology of using cryogenic propellants -- liquid
oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees’
Celsius.
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