On December 18, 2014, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched from Sriharikota, the first test flight of its newest rocket, the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) conducting a suborbital flight that also demonstrated a prototype crew capsule (CARE) for India’s proposed manned missions.

GSLV Mark III is the heaviest next-generation rocket, conceived and designed to make ISRO selfreliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class, which weigh 4,500 to 5,000 kg. Once operational, this rocket will have the capability to ferry four-tonne class of INSAT series of communication satellites, which are currently being launched through Arianespace.

The mission is expected to take ISRO a step closer to sending astronauts into space. The GSLV Mk III, an Indian-made 3.7-tonne crew module, is capable of taking two or three astronauts to space. ISRO has estimated that in about eight years time, it will be able to send astronauts into space with made-in-India rocket and when this happens, India will be the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to have done so. ISRO has sought a funding of Rs. 12,500 crore for its human space flight programme.

A Tweet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Successful launch of GSLV Mk III is yet another triumph of brilliance and hard work of our scientists. Congratulations to them for the efforts.” The GSLV Mk III is an altogether new design of a rocket by Indian engineers. Incidentally, its first stage consists of twin solid-state rocket engines that carry as much as 200 tonnes of propellant each. ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan says: “These are the world’s third largest rocket boosters.” The two-stage rocket is designed to place around ten tonnes of payload into low earth orbit or four tonnes to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The 42.4-metre-long expendable rocket has a design life span of around five minutes. The Rs. 160-crore mission tests the rocket’s atmospheric flight stability powered by two engines with around four-tonne luggage. This is testimony to ISRO perfecting the cryogenic engine technology.

The unmanned crew module was navigated by remote-control and made to re-enter the atmosphere at a high velocity and was slowed down with massive parachutes, the largest ever to be used by ISRO, before it splashed down in the Bay of Bengal.

The GSLV was introduced in 2001 with the aim of enabling India to deploy its own communications satellites without relying on foreign rockets – providing a payload capacity of up to 2,200 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The GSLV has only a 37.5 per cent success rate, with only three of its eight launches reaching their planned orbits.

The LVM-3 or GSLV Mk III is completely new development, a two-stage rocket with twin solid boosters augmenting an all-liquid core vehicle. The first stage, or L110, is powered by two Vikas engines, derived from France’s Viking series used on Ariane rockets between 1979 and 2004. The primary objective of CARE’s mission was to validate the re-entry and recovery of the prototype spacecraft. The 3,735- kg spacecraft flew without the service module that will eventually accompany it on manned missions; instead it was attached to the second stage of its carrier rocket upside-down, inside the payload fairing.

On this flight, the rocket will be tested on how it performs during its travel in the atmosphere. The rocket will have the first two stages as active rocket engines, while the third stage that consists of the cryogenic engine is a passive stage. The heavy-duty cryogenic engine necessary for this rocket is still under development by ISRO. A full-fledged launch of the rocket can be expected in a few years.

By launching upside-down, ISRO hopes to simplify the CARE mission and increase the chances of success; eliminating the risk of having to modify the capsule’s heat shield to interface with the rocket and removing the need for the spacecraft to manoeuvre to re-entry attitude following launch.

For launches from the second pad, rockets are assembled vertically atop a mobile platform in an integration building about a kilometre southwest of the launch pad. The GSLV Mk III prototype was rolled out a week ahead of launch to allow testing and rehearsals to be conducted in advance of liftoff.