ISRO launched an advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR onboard the GSLV rocket yesterday.
Highlights
- GSLV rocket used yesterday to launch weather satellite
- Half of earlier GSLV attempts had been successful
- Scientists say -naught boy has become adorable boy-
Fingers were crossed as India's heaviest rocket launcher, the GSLV, took off from Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mark II) has been used 10 times to put crucial satellites for India into space. It has succeeded only in half of those attempts, earning it the nickname "naughty boy" by scientists at the Indian Space and Research Organization.
After a 40-minute delay caused by a last-minute technical glitch, the GSLV delivered - a weather satellite that weighed over 2,200 kilos had been put into orbit. This is the heaviest-ever lift-off for India.
"The naughty boy of ISRO has become the adorable boy," said Dr K Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
But the big mastery was in the use of a cryogenic engine made entirely in India. After the USSR disintegrated, the technology involved had for years been refused to India by Russia, under pressure from the US. For two decades, India has worked on developing it at home.
The launch yesterday cost Rs 250 crores, half what it would cost in Western countries.
Next year, the powerful rocket GSLV is to be used to launch India's second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2. The first lunar mission with an unmanned Indian spacecraft was launched in 2008.