Gaganyaan Programme: ISRO Successfully Tests Solid Rocket Booster

Solid Rocket Booster UPSC: Relevance

• GS 3: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Gaganyaan Programme UPSC: Context

• Recently, ISRO has successfully tested HS200(human-rated solid rocket booster) , bringing us one more step closer to the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.

Solid Rocket Booster  ISRO: Key points

• The test was held at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
• HS200 booster was designed and developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram over two years.
• It is rocket boosters used on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), also called the LVM3.
• Out of the three propulsion stages of LVM3, the human-rated versions of the second stage known as L110-G loaded with liquid propellant and the third stage C25-G with cryogenic propellant are in the final phase of qualification including tests with static firing.

What is rocket booster?

• The GSLV Mk-III rocket, which will be used for the Gaganyaan mission will have two HS200 boosters which will supply the thrust for lift-off.
• The HS200 is a 20-metre-long booster with a diameter of 3.2 metres and is the world’s second largest operational booster using solid propellants.
• Since Gaganyaan is a crewed mission, the GSLV Mk-III will have improvements to increase reliability and safety to meet the requirements of ‘human rating.’

गगनयान कार्यक्रम: इसरो ने सॉलिड रॉकेट बूस्टर  का सफल परीक्षण किया

About GSLV rockets

• About GSLV rockets: It is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. They are the largest launch vehicle developed by India.
  • Development for the GSLV rockets began in the early 2000s, with the first launch planned for 2009-2010.
  • A Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket consists of three stages.

1. 1. 1. First stage: consists of a solid rocket motor and four liquid strap-ons.
      2. Second stage: consists of Vikas engine/engines (a family of liquid-fueled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in the 1970s).
      3. Third stage: consists of an indigenously developed (by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre) cryogenic engine.

• GSLV Mark-II rockets: It is a fourth-generation launch vehicle.
  • Payload carrying capacity: It can place 2500 kg satellite in Geo-synchronous orbit and 5000 kgs satellite into low earth orbit.
  • First successful launch: GSLV-D5 (launched in 2014) was the first successful flight of the GSLV Mark-II using the indigenously developed cryogenic engine.
• GSLV Mark-III Rockets: It is the most capable launch vehicle India has. Its three stages consist of solid boosters, liquid motor, and cryogenic upper stage.
  • Payload Carrying Capacity: It is capable of putting a communication satellite of 4 tonnes into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and 10 tonnes satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
  • First successful flight: taken in December 2014 when it successfully carried a crew module to a height of 120km.
  • Some of the successful flights by GSLV Mark-III:
    • CARE (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Mission), Dec 2014.
    • GSAT – 19 Mission, launched in June 2017.
    • GSAT – 29 Mission, launched in November 2018.
    • Chandrayaan 2 Mission, 2019.

About Gaganyaan Mission

• The Gaganyaan Programme envisages undertaking the demonstration of human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the short-term and will lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme in the long run.

• The objective of Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate indigenous capability to undertake human space flight mission to LEO.
• As part of this programme, two unmanned missions and one manned mission are approved by Government of India (GoI).

• The total cost of Gaganyaan Programme is around 9023 crores.

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