{"id":13914,"date":"2018-03-29T22:25:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T14:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/india-tests-upgraded-engine-tech-in-successful-communications-satellite-launch\/"},"modified":"2018-03-29T22:25:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T14:25:17","slug":"india-tests-upgraded-engine-tech-in-successful-communications-satellite-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/india-tests-upgraded-engine-tech-in-successful-communications-satellite-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"India tests upgraded engine tech in successful communications satellite launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
India\u2019s GSLV Mk.2 rocket takes off Thursday with the GSAT 6A communications satellite. Credit: ISRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Indian satellite built as a technological testbed for mobile communications successfully launched Thursday on top of a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, one of 10 space missions planned by India by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The GSAT 6A spacecraft, carrying a deployable S-band antenna and multiple communications beams, lifted off on top of India\u2019s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle at 1126 GMT (7:26 a.m. EDT; 4:56 p.m. Indian time).<\/p>\n

The 161-foot-tall (49-meter) GSLV Mk.2 rocket took off with nearly 1.8 million pounds of thrust from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, a coastal spaceport located on Sriharikota Island around 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Chennai on the country\u2019s east coast.<\/p>\n

Four liquid-fueled Vikas engines ignited in the final seconds of the countdown, and a core rocket motor consuming pre-packed solid propellant ignited to boost the GSLV Mk.2 into a clear late afternoon sky.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s guidance computer commanded the GSLV Mk.2 on a course east-southeast from the Sriharikota space base. The launcher\u2019s core stage emptied its solid propellant casing and burned out less than two minutes after liftoff, and the four Vikas booster engines shut down around two-and-a-half minutes into the flight.<\/p>\n

A Vikas engine on the GSLV Mk.2\u2019s second stage ramped up to full power, generating around 190,000 pounds of thrust during a 2-minute, 12-second firing. That\u2019s a 6 percent increase in thrust over Vikas engines flown on earlier GSLV missions.<\/p>\n

Indian engineers wanted to demonstrate the High Thrust Vikas Engine\u2019s performance Thursday before introducing the upgrade to the four Vikas engines that power the GSLV Mk.2\u2019s strap-on boosters on future missions.<\/p>\n

The second stage also employed electromechanical actuators powered by lithium-ion batteries for the first time, replacing hydraulic systems used on past missions. The technology change will make the rocket more reliable, Indian officials said.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s metallic 11.1-foot (3.4-meter) nose cone dropped away in a clamshell-like fashion at T+plus 3 minutes, 45 seconds, during the second stage burn.<\/p>\n

Ignition of the third stage\u2019s hydrogen-fueled engine occurred at approximately T+plus 4 minutes, 46 minutes, for a firing that lasted nearly 13 minutes.<\/p>\n

In another first, the upper stage was programmed to fire a few seconds longer than on past missions to deplete the engine\u2019s liquid oxygen supply, giving the GSAT 6A satellite an extra bit of energy toward its high-altitude orbit.<\/p>\n

Live video from an on-board camera showed the GSAT 6A satellite separating from the GSLV Mk.2\u2019s third stage around 18 minutes after liftoff. A round of applause inside the launch control center heralded the successful mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the fifth successive successful launch of GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage successfully placed the high-power S-band communications satellite GSAT 6A in the designated orbit precisely,\u201d said K. Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization.<\/p>\n

A rocket propulsion expert who took over ISRO\u2019s top post in January, Sivan said the GSLV Mk.2\u2019s performance enhancements are aimed at eventually increasing the rocket\u2019s lift capability to near 3 metric tons \u2014 about 6,600 pounds. The higher-thrust Vikas engines will be installed on the first stage boosters flown on future GSLV Mk.2 missions.<\/p>\n

The GSAT 6A satellite launched Thursday is similar in design to the GSAT 6 telecom craft successfully launched by a GSLV Mk.2 rocket in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Artist\u2019s concept of the GSAT 6A satellite in orbit. Credit: ISRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGSAT 6A is a complement to GSAT 6, which is already in orbit,\u201d Sivan said. \u201cThese two satellites combined are going to provide a platform for development of advanced technologies, such as unfurlable antennas, hand-held devices and ground networks for two-way point-to-point satellite communications,\u201d Sivan said.<\/p>\n

The GSLV Mk.2\u2019s third stage released the GSAT 6A satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit stretching from a low altitude of around 92 miles (149 kilometers) to a peak altitude around 22,685 miles (36,508 kilometers), according to U.S. military tracking data. The orbit was tilted at an angle of 20.7 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

The altitude and inclination parameters were close to pre-flight predictions.<\/p>\n

Using three major orbit-raising maneuvers, GSAT 6A\u2019s on-board engine will circularize its orbit over the equator over the next week, parking at an altitude where the satellite\u2019s velocity will match the rate of Earth\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n

Geostationary orbits are typically used by communications satellites, and GSAT 6A will operate from a position at 83 degrees east longitude, giving the craft\u2019s five S-band spot beams and single C-band beam coverage over India.<\/p>\n

GSAT 6A will unfurl a 20-foot (6-meter) S-band antenna once it arrives in geostationary orbit. The new satellite is the second Indian spacecraft to feature such a large antenna.<\/p>\n

The Indian military will be a prime user of GSAT 6A, using the satellite\u2019s ability to connect with small terminals on ships and in other mobile vehicles.<\/p>\n

V. Ramanathan, ISRO\u2019s satellite director for the GSAT 6A satellite, said in remarks after the launch that the new spacecraft deployed its electricity-generating solar panels shortly after separation from the rocket\u2019s third stage.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s launch was the 12th flight of India\u2019s GSLV Mk.1 and Mk.2 rocket family since 2001, and the sixth to use an Indian-built cryogenic third stage engine. Six previous missions flown in the GSLV Mk.1 configuration launched with a Russian-manufactured upper stage engine before Indian engineers completed development of a domestic cryogenic engine.<\/p>\n

With Thursday\u2019s launch, the GSLV Mk.2 has logged five successful missions in a row after the four previous GSLV flights \u2014 including both Mk.1 and Mk.2 versions \u2014 suffered total or partial failures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is next? Definitely, ISRO has huge plans,\u201d Sivan said after Thursday\u2019s launch. \u201cThis year is going to be another high-profile year for ISRO.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next nine months, we are going to have 10 missions of diverse applications like space science, Earth observation, communications and navigation. All the areas are going to have missions this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

India\u2019s next space mission is set for launch April 12, when a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will loft the country\u2019s ninth navigation satellite from a different launch pad at Sriharikota. If workers at the spaceport keep the PSLV mission on track, it will mark the shortest time between two Indian space launches.<\/p>\n

P. Kunhikrishnan, director of the Indian launch base, said the PSLV has been fully assembled on its launch pad in advance of the mid-April liftoff. The IRNSS 1I navigation satellite set to ride the PSLV into orbit has also arrived at the launch base.<\/p>\n

The April 12 launch will be the first for India\u2019s navigation satellite program since a failed PSLV flight in August 2017, which left a navigation payload stranded on the rocket.<\/p>\n

Preparations for the next launch of the GSLV Mk.3, India\u2019s most powerful rocket, have also started at Sriharikota\u2019s Solid Stage Assembly Building for a liftoff in the next couple of months with the GSAT 29 communications satellite.<\/p>\n

The high-power GSAT 11 broadband satellite, the largest spacecraft ever produced by India, is scheduled for launch in May aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket in French Guiana.<\/p>\n

And Chandrayaan 2, a robotic lunar rover, is expected to launch on another GSLV Mk.2 rocket in October or November, about six months later than Indian officials had previously announced. That will be India\u2019s second moon mission, after a lunar orbiter launched in 2008.<\/p>\n

The high-thrust Vikas engine tested on Thursday\u2019s mission, codenamed GSLV-F08, will be used again on the Chandrayaan 2 launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mission, GSLV-F08, has achieved two goals in one stroke,\u201d said S. Pandian, director of the ISRO Propulsion Complex. \u201cOne is first putting GSAT 6A in its designated slot, and second is (testing) whatever essential elements are required to have confidence on Chandrayaan 2. Those elements have been proved, like the High-Thrust Vikas Engine, electromechanical actuators, lithium-ion batteries, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to have highly-accurate, high-resolution satellites for remote sensing,\u201d Sivan said of ISRO\u2019s missions this year. \u201cWe are going to have a high-bandwidth satellite for communications purposes. This is going to make a revolution in India.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong with that, the major mission this year is Chandrayaan,\u201d Sivan said.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s GSLV Mk.2 rocket takes off Thursday with the GSAT 6A communications satellite. Credit: ISRO An Indian satellite built as a technological testbed for mobile communications successfully launched Thursday on top of a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, one of 10 space missions planned by India by the end of the year. The GSAT 6A spacecraft, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2996,1259,1580,2997,301,525,25,2832],"class_list":["post-13914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-gsat-6a","tag-gslv","tag-gslv-mk-2","tag-gslv-f08","tag-india","tag-isro","tag-launch","tag-shar"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}