The GSLV-F14 carrying INSAT-3D meteorological satellite was successfully launched on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
About 18 minutes after the lift-off from the spaceport’s second launchpad, the GSLV-F14 deployed the INSAT-3DS into the intended geosynchronous transfer orbit.
“The spacecraft has been injected into a very good orbit. The injection conditions were as expected and we also noted that the vehicle has performed very, very well,” ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said.
The INSAT-3DS satellite is a follow-on mission of the third generation meteorological satellite from geostationary orbit. The satellite is an exclusive mission designed for enhanced meteorological observations, monitoring of land and ocean surfaces for weather forecasting, and disaster warning.
The INSAT-3DS satellite will augment meteorological services along with the presently operational INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR in-orbit satellites.
The primary objectives of the mission are to monitor Earth’s surface, carry out oceanic observations and its environment in various spectral channels of meteorological importance, provide the vertical profile of various meteorological parameters of the atmosphere, provide data collection and dissemination capabilities from data collection platforms, and provide satellite-aided search and rescue services.
Subsequent orbit-raising maneuvers will be performed to position the satellite in a geo-stationary orbit.
‘Disciplined boy’
The GSLV or geosynchronous launch vehicle was termed the “naughty boy” of Indian space due to its repeated failures in the past. Following Saturday’s successful launch, GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS Mission Director Tommy Joseph said that the GSLV had become a “disciplined boy”.
“The naughty boy has matured as a disciplined boy. Like PSLV, the GSLV has become a robust vehicle for ISRO,” Mr. Joseph said
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director S. Unnikrishnan Nair, in whose centre the GSLV-F14 was developed, said that following the success of this launch, the reliability of the vehicle had become very high.
“From naughty, the GSLV has become smarty,” Dr Nair said.
Boost to NASA-ISRO mission
The success of the GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS mission is a big boost for ISRO ahead of the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, which is scheduled in the coming months. The NISAR will be launched by the GSLV Mark-II launch vehicle.
“With this mission, our confidence in the GSLV is further high and the next mission of the GSLV is the NISAR satellite. The success of this mission gives us a lot of confidence,” Dr. Somanath said.
