Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) GSLV-D5 rocket, powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, injected into orbit a telecommunication satellite, GSAT-14, with clockwork precision. So precise was the launch that the satellite reached 40 m within the targeted perigee (nearest point from Earth) of 179 km and only 50 km from the 36,000 km apogee (the farthest point).
The successful launch will make one of the cutting edge technological breakthroughs — manned mission to space — a possibility.
GSLV-D5 lifted off at 4.18 pm from the second launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, the roar from its engines drowning the applause that reverberated in the mission control room. “All the stages of GSLV-D5 performed as planned,” Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said. “The mission is a success. We dedicate this proud moment to the country.”
With this, India has become the sixth spacefarer after US, Russia, the European Space Agency, China and Japan to develop a cryogenic engine — a prerequisite for interplanetary probes.
While India’s PSLV has been a roaring success and the workhorse for its space mission, it cannot, unlike GSLV, carry communication satellites weighing more than 2,000 kg into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, which would have the same rotation speed as Earth.
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