The new rocket is a boost for Indias attempts to grab a greater slice of the $300bn global space market

 

Agencies

Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

India yesterday successfully launched its biggest ever rocket carrying an unmanned capsule which could one day send astronauts into space, as the country ramps up its ambitious space programme.

The rocket, designed to carry heavier communication and other satellites into higher orbit, blasted off from Sriharikota in a test mission costing nearly $25mn.

“This was a very significant day in the history of (the) Indian space programme,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K S Radhakrishnan said from mission control as fellow scientists clapped and cheered.

ISRO scientists have been riding high since an Indian spacecraft successfully reached Mars in September on a shoe-string budget, winning Asia’s race to the Red Planet and sparking an outpouring of national pride.

Although India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, it has struggled to match the heavier loads that other countries increasingly want sent up.

The new rocket, weighing 630 tonnes and capable of carrying a payload of 4 tonnes, is a boost for India’s attempts to grab a greater slice of the $300bn global space market.

“India, you have a new launch vehicle with you. We have made it again,” said S Somnath, director of the mission.

“The powerful launch vehicle has come to shape, which will change our destiny... (by) placing heavier spacecraft into communications orbits.”

The rocket was carrying an unmanned crew capsule which according to an ISRO official is the size of a small bedroom which can accommodate two to three people.

Just over five minutes into the flight, the rocket spat out the giant cup cake shaped crew module at an altitude of 126km.

The module then descended towards Earth at a high speed. The speed was moderated remotely manipulating its on-board motors until 80km above the earth.

From here the ballistic re-entry into the atmosphere began while the on-board thrusters were shut down.

The crew module’s heat shield was expected to experience a heat of around 1,600 degrees centigrade. At an altitude of around 15 km, the module’s apex cover separated and the parachutes were deployed.

The module soft crashed in Bay of Bengal near Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

From here, the crew module’s multi-modal and multi-state transport journey would begin.

A naval ship tracking the signals from the module will pick up the module and deliver it at the Ennore Port near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. From there it will be brought to Sriharikota and then it will be taken to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala.

India’s manned spaceflight programme has seen multiple stops and starts in recent years, and ISRO says the crew capsule project would take at least another seven years to reach the point where an astronaut could be put into space.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the test mission as “yet another triumph of (the) brilliance and hard work of our scientists” in a post on Twitter.

Radhakrishnan said the next step would be to develop a more powerful indigenous engine, reducing India’s reliance on those built in Europe, for the rocket, which is officially named the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III.

“Our own cryogenic engine, which is at development stage, will be used in powering the advanced heavy rockets in the next two years,” he said.

The experiment yesterday also helped ISRO test the vehicle’s atmospheric stability and its design. It was powered by two engines while a third is under development.

“We still need to put a heavier third engine to ensure this vehicle can be used successfully for manned missions and heavier satellite launches,” said Mayank Vahia, a scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

 

 

 

Related Story