ISRO set to test Mark III of new satellite launch vehicle

The first experimental flight of India's heaviest and upgraded rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III, carrying a crew model, is scheduled to take off from Sriharikotta in a launch window between 15 and 20 December.

''The Rs155-crore mission is designed to test the atmospheric stability of the rocket. The incendital component of the mission is to test the crew module,'' said M Y S Prasad, director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) based at Sriharikota.

The rocket does not yet have the required cryogenic engine for putting four tonnes satellites into orbit. "The cryogenic engine is under development and will take two years to be ready," said Prasad.

Since other stages of the other engines are ready, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) decided on this mission to test the rocket's performance and stability while going into space.

On the crew capsule, which is designed to take three members, Prasad said it is mainly to test the safety parameters of the capsule when it re-enters the atmosphere.

Though it is called a 'crew capsule', it will not carry any humans.

Prasad said the rocket will go up to 120 km and then the crew capsule will be detached, which will then fall in the Bay of Bengal, after 20 minutes of flight.