GSLV-D5 to take off on January 5

Will carry advanced communication satellite GSAT-14 into orbit

After three consecutive failures, the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) is being readied for its new mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is confident the launch will be successful this time.

The GSLV-D5 is expected to be launched from the Sriharikota space port near this city at 4:18 pm on January 5, 2014. It will carry advanced communication satellite GSAT-14 to orbit. The GSAT-14, which will be used for telecasting and telecommunication purposes, has a mission life of 12 years.

Speaking to Business Standard, Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan said, “This will be a major technological milestone, and this time we are confident we will succeed.” The space research organisation has already completed the integration of the second and the cryogenic stages of the launch vehicle.

Radhakrishnan said the preparations for the launch had started and the mission readiness review team would meet on December 27. The following day, the vehicle would be moved to the launch pad, he added.

The vehicle has an indigenous cryogenic engine, to be used for the second time in the GSLV. It was developed by Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. In April 2010, the first flight that used an Indian cryogenic engine had failed.

The GSLV-D5 was scheduled for launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 4.50 pm on August 19 this year. However, the mission was called off, after a leak was found in the fuel system during the pre-launch pressurisation process.

Of the seven GSLV launches so far, three were unsuccessful---GSLV-F02, launched with INSAT-4C on July 10, 2006; GSLV-D3, launched with GSAT-4 on April 15, 2010; and GSLV-F06, launched with GSAT-5P on December 25, 2010, according to Isro’s website.