Heaviest satellite to be carried on indigenous rocket

Amid concerns over Cyclone Gaja spoiling the launch of the country’s heaviest satellite to be carried on board an indigenous rocket from Indian soil, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) pulled off the feat to perfection on Wednesday.

The team went ahead with the launch of the GSAT-29 on board its second developmental flight GSLV-MkIII D2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to clear blue skies as plumes of smoke from the rocket left a trail in the horizon after lift-off from the second launch pad at 5.08 p.m.

ISRO’s GSLV-MkIII-D2 rocket blasts off from Sriharikota on November 14, 2018. | Photo Credit: K. Pichumani

Placed in orbit

The satellite was placed in a geo-synchronous transfer orbit 17 minutes after launch.

“The first operational mission of this vehicle (GSLV-MkIII) is going to be none other than the Chandrayaan-II mission in January next year. This vehicle is going to carry a human to space three years from now. Kudos to this excellent launcher of India,” ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said.

The communication satellite, weighing 3,423 kg, “is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for new and critical technologies,” according to ISRO.

The Ku-band and Ka-band payloads are expected to cater to communication requirements for people in remote areas in the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East.

The satellite will be placed in a geo-stationary orbit at its intended location after three orbit raising manoeuvres over the next few days.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned that an “Indian son or daughter” will undertake a manned space mission by 2022 while delivering his Independence Day address this year, Mr. Sivan said ISRO had set a target of achieving this feat by December 2021.

He said ISRO planned to have two unmanned missions — one in December 2020 — before attempting to put a human in space.