GSLV failure to hit Mark III plan

The failure of India’s first indigenously built cryogenic rocket engine on the GSLV D3 may delay the ISRO’s ambitious plans to launch the GSLV Mark III, which will put heavier satellites of up to 10,000 kg into the Earth’s low orbit, this would also allow the ISRO to enjoy a portion of the revenue that so far, nations ahead in space technology enjoy.
The Mark III version of the GSLV is the heaviest, tallest and most powerful rocket launcher ever planned by the country’s premier space research body.
In fact, the GSLV D3 is a demonstrator version of the GSLV Mark II, the predecessor of the GSLV Mark III. The ISRO has plans to launch the Mark III version, the most modern launch vehicle till date, by the end of this year or early next year.
The Mark III utilises cryogenic fuel (liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidiser) and the ISRO had wanted to test its indigenous cryogenic rocket fuel technology on the Mark II version, which unfortunately failed after its launch from Sriharikota on Thursday.
The failure has also come as a major setback to India, which is competing with neighbouring China in space technology. Had the cryogenic fuel propelled the GSLV D3 successfully, India would have gained an upper hand over China.
Unlike the PSLV and other versions of the GSLV, the Mark III is capable of launching 4,000 kg satellites into the geosynchronous transfer orbit or 10,000 kg satellites into the low earth orbit. Like the GSLV D3, the Mark III will use in its upper stage cryogenic fuel up to 25,000 kgs. It will have a lift-off weight of 629 tonnes and will stand 42.4 metres tall.
According to the Isro, the GSLV Mark III has been conceived and designed to make the organisation completely self-reliant in order to launch heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class which weigh between 4,500 and 5000 kg. It would also enhance the capability of the country to become a competitive player in the multi-crore-dollar commercial launch market. The vehicle envisages a multi-mission launch capability for GTO, low earth orbit, polar and intermediate circular orbits.
At present, the ISRO’s GSLVs can put a weight of 2,500 kg into space while the PSLV versions are capable of carrying 1,600 kg satellites into the polar orbit and 1,100 kg satellites into the geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Mark III version will have almost double the luggage carrying capacity.
Incidentally, the ISRO’s static testing of the GSLV Mark III for liquid core stage last month had to be called off midway, further putting a question mark on the project’s scheduled launch. While the GSLV D3 carried 15 tonnes of cryogenic fuel, the Mark III version will have 80 per cent more capacity.