India Successfully Fires GSLV-Mark III 

GSLV Mark III, India’s heaviest rocket to date, has been launched successfully by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The most powerful rocket ever developed by ISRO lifted the communication satellite GSAT-19 to the Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSLV Mark III is capable of hurling payloads weighing up to 4 tonne into a GTO that is about 36,000 kilometres high in its farthest point from the earth and 170 kilometers in its nearest point. The ISRO scientists will now manoeuvre the satellite to its final destination of 36,000 kilometer circular orbit.

The three-stage rocket is powered by two solid strap-on motors at the bottom, a liquid propellant core stage and the cryogenic upper stage. All the three stages of the rocket, including its cryogenic engine are new in configuration.

The rocket put into orbit the heaviest ever satellite weighing 3,136 kilogram (during lift off) that was launched from India, in its path breaking journey. The satellite’s intended mission life is 10 years.

With inputs from ANI

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