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India’s GSLV / Krunivhev’s KVRB First Launch a Success

More Information:

GSLV successfully launched GSat 1 from SHAR Launch Center, Sriharikota, at 1013 UTC (3:13 a.m. PDT) on April 18. This was the first launch of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 1540 kg (3395 lbm) GSat 1 satellite is a demonstration satellite which will conduct experiments on propulsion, navigation and communications systems for use in future communications satellites built by India. The satellite was initially injected into a subsynchronous transfer orbit (181 x 32,051 km, inclined 19.2 degrees to the Equator).

Two more qualification flights of the GSLV are planned in the next two years. At least one more success is needed before the vehicle is declared fit for operational flights. The launch’s success is expected to end India's reliance on foreign launch vehicles for indigenously built satellites. The GSLV's first operational payload is likely to be Insat 3D, in 2003. India hopes to establish it as a player in the commercial launch market. In the past India has launched its satellites using Ariane rockets.

The GSLV used a 12KRB cryogenic third stage provided by GKNPTs Khrunichev and powered by a 73.5-kN KB KhimMash KVD-1 engine. The 12KRB carries 12,500 kg of cryogenic propellant. Five more 12KRB stages are planned for delivery to India. An Indian cryogenic stage, the C12, is expected to replace it when its development will be completed, which is not expected to be before 2003-2004. The Khrunichev Space Center started work on the cryogenic stage in 1982, with this launch culminating in its first test flight. Khrunichev is developing a 20-ton KVRB as a future upper stage for the Proton M rocket and heavy-lift versions of the Angara family of rockets. A first flight of the Proton M/KVRB combination is tentatively planned for 2003.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has invested US$305 million (14 billion rupees) in developing the rocket over the past decade. The GSLV project was initiated in 1990 at an initial cost of US$157 million (756 crores) with a goal to achieve self-reliance in launching satellites. The price for a single launch is announced as US$35 - 40 million.

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April 18, 2001