GSLV-Mk III set for June 5 launch: All you need to know about the monster rocket

If it succeeds, the single GSAT-19 satellite will be equivalent to having a constellation of 6-7 of the older variety of communication satellites in space.

New Delhi, June 4: The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III, the heaviest rocket ever made by India is set for launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.28 pm on Monday.

ISRO in its maiden launch, will hoist the 3,136 kilogram GSAT-19, an experimental communications satellite, to geosynchronous transfer orbit from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Here is all you need to know about the monster rocket that could launch Indians into space. A truly made in India satellite that will empower a digital India that is in the making.

• The launch would mean the satellites can be lofted into space from within the country.
• GSLV-Mk III is capable of launching four-tonne satellites in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
• The satellite weighing 3,136 kg is equal to the weight of a single elephant being lofted into space, is the country's heaviest but shortest rocket with a height of 43 metre.
• It is not a single satellite but like a constellation of many satellites all working from a single platform and in unison from the sky.
• GSLV-Mk III's first developmental flight, D1, will carry on June 5 the GSAT-19 satellite developed to help improve telecommunication and broadcasting areas.
• Once this satellite hits the orbit, satellite-based Internet streaming will become a total reality for India.
• The making of the sattelite took about 25 years, 11 flights and over 200 tests on different components of the rocket for it to be fully realised.
• The static test of liquid core stage of GSLV-Mk III launch vehicle was done at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre test facility as early as March 2010.
• The rocket is powered by an indigenously designed cryogenic engine that uses liquid oxygen and hydrogen as a propellant.
• If successful, GSLV Mk- III could soon be used to ferry Indian astronauts to space.
  

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