Tech
India edges closer to manned missions, set to launch its heaviest rocket
India’s space agency ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is all set to launch its heaviest and most powerful rocket until date, the GSLV Mk III-D1, on 5 June.
The success of the launch is crucial as this very rocket will be used to ferry astronauts into space one day if all tests go as planned.
The 43-metre (140-foot) rocket is scheduled to lift off from the southern island of Sriharikota, one of two sites used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch satellites.
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This latest model boasts a powerful engine that has been developed in India over many years. Programme managers hope the technology will reduce reliance on European engines that have propelled some of India’s spacecraft in the past.
“This is an important moment in India’s space technology to launch an indigenous heavy rocket,” Ajay Lele from the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses revealed.
“Communication satellites are quite heavy and we were able to send up to two tonnes previously. This is a double quantum jump for India.”
The GSLV Mk III rocket will carry a satellite weighing more than three tonnes into a high orbit above Earth, a landmark achievement as India had struggled to match the heavier payloads of other space giants.
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