ISRO chairman K Sivan speaks on upcoming missions, says 'Sriharikota is full of traffic'

Sriharikota, Nov 29: After the sucessful launch of PSLV-C43 with HySIS (Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite) and 30 other satellites on Thursday, ISRO chief Dr K Sivan spoke about the upcoming missions and said "Sriharikota is full of traffic."

ISRO is set to launch 22 missions in 2019, while setting a target of 50 successful missions within the next three years.

The heavy communication satellite, GSAT 11, is scheduled to be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, early in the morning on December 5 (Indian Standard Time). The satellite, weighing 5,854 kg, is too heavy to be launched by any Indian launch vehicle. India's heaviest launch vehicle, GSLV Mk III, can carry a payload of only 4 tonnes to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

"We are seeing the road ahead of us, Sriharikota is full of traffic. We are going to have another spectacular mission of GSAT-11, that is the heaviest satellite India has made. It is going to be launched from French Guiana on December 5 at 2:08 am," Dr K Sivan said today.

Sivan said, in January next, ISRO would launch the Chandrayaan-II mission (lunar lander) which will be the first operational mission of the GSLV-Mk III-vehicle.

"Subsequently in December, we are planning to have another excellent mission, long-awaited mission, that GSLV is going to launch the GSAT-7A. Next year, we are going to have another major mission 'Chandrayaan-2'," he added.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would closely monitor the performance of GSLV Mark III rocket. This could be the rocket that the ISRO may use for India first manned spaceflight program, Gaganyan. GSLV Mark III is ISRO's heaviest rocket and is capable of introducing four-tonne class satellites into a geostationary transfer orbit.

For Gaganyan, ISRO cannot rely on its workhorse PSLV. PSLV can carry payloads upto 2 tonnes, but a spacecraft carrying human beings is likely to weigh much more. For this, ISRO has developed GSLV Mk-III which is a launch vehicle capable of carrying heavier payloads much further into the space.

India's solar mission Aditya-L1 will also be launched in 2019 besides demonstrating the commercially viable baby rocket, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), in May-June 2019.