In view of the eventual manned mission to space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to launch its experimental mission of Geo-synchronous Satellite launch Vehicle — Mark III (GSlV-MK III) in the first half of December.
Announcing this crucial mission in Bangalore on Thursday, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said that the reviews are underway to launch GSlV MK III.
He said, “Certain reviews are going on at the moment, we hope that by December first half we will be able to have the launch. Why I say this is due to three reasons — one is the preparedness of the vehicle, second is that a certain analysis and reconfirmation has to be done for the new vehicle and third is the weather — because essentially from October middle to first week of December the weather conditions are not good because of the cyclonic storms are so frequent.”
“But we will monitor the situation for about 10-15 days and then the scheduling of the launch will also be verified, and we also need to have crew module recovery,” he added.
According to ISRO the first development flight (GSlV MK III D1) with an operational cryogenic stage is planned between 2016 to 2017. The second development flight (GSlV Mk-III D2) is planned after one year of GSlV Mk-III D1 flight in 2017 to 2018. The 630-tonne GSlV-MK III will carry a crew module of 3.65-tonne. ISRO plans to send astronauts into space eventually.
ISRO has developed the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSlV-Mark I-III) with indigenous cryogenic engine to launch heavier satellites weighing more than two tonnes and three tonnes into the geo-orbit at 36,000 km above Earth.