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India’s GSLV Mk III rolls to launch pad
India’s new GSLV Mk III rocket rolls to the launch pad yesterday, 10 December 2014, ahead of a suborbital test flight on 18 December. The vehicle is being developed to provide heavy-lift access to space for India’s heaviest payloads, which currently have to fly on Europe’s Ariane V vehicle.
The test flight will analyze the new rocket’s performance in the atmosphere. A cryogenic third stage will power the GSLV Mk III on operational flights, however on this test the stage has not been included.
The sole payload for the test mission will be a boilerplate version of India’s crew vehicle. Capsule safety during reentry and recovery operations are the primary goals of flying the test spacecraft on the booster’s maiden flight.
GSLV Mk III is an improvement on India’s GSLV series, which is the country’s main booster for lofting payloads into geosynchronous transfer orbits. It features two strap on solid fuel rockets, a liquid fueled core stage and a cryogenic third stage.
The GSLV Mk III is the largest rocket ever developed by India. Once operational, it will be one of only four heavy-lift rockets in the world, which include America’s Delta IV Heavy, Europe’s Ariane V, and Russia’s Angara. Angara is scheduled to complete its maiden flight test by the end of 2014 as well.
Launch is scheduled for 18 December from the Satish Dahwan Space Center near Sriharikota, India.
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Once heavy lift capability is achieved the next step is usually manned space flight. I always bet that either India or Brazil would be the next nation to independently put a man in orbit but Brazil's program seems to have waned while India's is full speed ahead.
Good for them.
Another launch system other than Russia (political problems) or Europe (expensive and bureaucratic) could be a boost for the US as well. While we many plan on launching manned vehicles like our new Constellation ourselves, I could see the US looking for cheaper heavy launch partners if we ever get serious about a Mars mission or a return to the moon. Hauling up food, water, and air is one of the more expensive challenges. A joint US/Europe/India Mars flight sounds better to me than a joint US/Europe/Russia one at this point.
ReplyDeletemy biggest disappointment is not seeing Europe put people in space independently. that's just plain lazy. India as a partner in space is thrilling in my opinion. they appear to have the ambition and unless China keeps the peddle down i'd bet that we'll see India on the moon before them. looking at a mission to Mars its a no brainer. a India/US collaboration would be ideal and a money saver. i wonder if they would be up for it.
DeleteDon't forget about China boys, they are the "black horse" of the race. I would be not surprise if that multi nation mission was in the race with a Dragon system ship to Mars.
Deletehttp://www.euronews.com/2014/12/10/new-rockets-astronauts-and-missions-esa-looks-forward-to-next-50-years/
DeleteIs it just me, or does that look a Photoshop pic or image capture from the old Thunderbirds marionette series?
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Europe is that they want to do things as Europe--not teams of nations. As the saying goes, a camel is a horse designed by a committee. getting a half-dozen nations to agree on anything is a problem...hence the unhappiness of much of Europe with the EU.
ReplyDelete.Part of Nato's success, right or wrong, good or bad, is the image of the US as the Leader. It rankled a lot of countries (ok, mostly the French) but it at least gave some direction.
I am sure India would be interested in a US/Indian Mars mission. It would help cement their reputation as an emerging superpower if we approached them.
China gets all the press, but India has nearly as large a population, a technology base equal to or better than China and is free nation. Their half century flirtation with Socialism and choosing Russia over the US in decades past has hurt them, but they have great potential.
I think less thunderbirds and more Space 1999 ... must be that British influence in India.
China has done it, and India has....potential. A technology base equal to or better than China? I don't think so. China is decades ahead of India.
DeleteI like the pun about the French. And it should also come as a sign of caution to NASA. You never know when France might sneak under the radar and get far reaching space collaboration agreement with India leaving the US behind. Or for that matter Japan. 2 countries which India trusts a lot more than US and vice-versa.
DeleteChina is ahead of us in the fact that they already have a Astronaut/cosmonaut program up and running where as we are still to establish that "Human Angle" to space exploration. But as with everything Putin, you never know when he might feel generous to India and transfer some tech. and experienced manpower to us so that we can narrow the gap on the Chinese.
Also, I repeat the same words as my Country leadership is saying. It is not a Space Race. Racing does not matter when you are preparing for a long sustainable future. We have been functioning on this earth as a continously existing civilization for the past 3 milleniums or so by not winning races but winning "The Game" itself.....tripping here and there but always in it.
Now as we look to exploite new planets just as we have expolited the Earth we must remember co-operation and not competition with patience being a virtue. Thousands of years or our collective humanities observations about the stars, the mathematics involved must all be harnessed.
One request though.....and a sincere one at that. Especially to the USA. Do not take Saudi Arabia and Pakistan with you into space. In the near future, when we all get to establish colonies on other planets...leave these 2 and their allies behind. You dont want to transform International Terrorism into Inter-Galactic Terrorism. Please let Darth Vader NOT be a mad mullah.
sorry dude but you're being naive. the US will push to asteroids first and then Mars. want to know why? precious resources. titanium, zinc, copper, unobtainium....all the stuff that we're running out of here on earth but will make space mining viable
Deleteso if you're not talking about this being a space race then you're already missing the boat. additionally you can't forget the military angle. whether we like it or not space will inevitably become militarized if it isn't already. anti-sat efforts at the very least will require a robust space program. our air force is trailblazing with the X-37 and no other nation has been able or appears to be working on something similar.
space might be the final frontier but its also the next battle ground and region to be exploited.
i could be wrong but thats how i see it. oh and as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, that has also puzzled me but only because we haven't seen more youthful leadership in that country. once you have a king that isn't grizzled and about one step from the grave i think they'll be all over the space thing. imagine one of those corporate space entities getting funding, setting up shop and launching from Saudi Arabia! enough to make you say WTF in a crowded room huh!?
Solomon is 100% correct.
DeleteIMHO India should have other priorities.
From the economist http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21577373-india-will-soon-have-fifth-worlds-working-age-population-it-urgently-needs-provide
"All this seems to be closely linked to the lack of manufacturing. Although some 23% of Indian workers are categorised as working in “industry”, compared to nearly 30% in China and 22% in Indonesia, half of India’s “industrial” workers are in construction whereas the figure is just a quarter in Indonesia. Of the remainder almost all are in the “manufacturing” subcategory. But these are not jobs that involve exposure to modern machinery, techniques and training (crucial for unskilled labour let down by the country’s education system). More than half of Indians in the manufacturing sector work in facilities without electricity."
How will India sustain a space development with that level of economy?
P.S. Not talking about your Modi reference because we would fall in the political matter/justice one.
Ahh...there finally.
DeleteI was just waiting for the first person here to throw India's poverty/other priorities excuse into the argument. Thats a failed argument Meriv. Everyone knows it. From the economist to the scientist to the bureucrat, the taxpayer and the politician. Talking poverty/other priorities in a space piece is just a journalistic fetish. And it was done to death when the Chandrayaan was launched. It was done to death when the Mangalyaan was launched. It was done to death when the Mangalyaan actually reached the orbit of mars. It will be done to death again at the next milestone.
What priorities India should have are clearly reflected in our Budget. Because thats where our money is. And money talks.
DeleteYou are saying it is a failed argument without giving arguments to back your point.
I wasn't referring to your poverty, or I would have linked other arguments, I was referring to your industry. Are your IT/Pharma engineers going to develop the space program efficiently?
As info-fanterie said the more the merrier (competition bonus), so I’m glad that you have a space program, just wondering how sustainable it is starting from the production chain to the political support.
After all the grandeur(also populism like "this is not an economic race") project's era has ended and we just had the prove this summer with Brazil, or like the Olympic committee that accepted multi-country staging of the games.
Get the wrong priorities and one end as Greece.
And the fact the we are not Greece and are actually not bleeding money should tell you exacly why this mission is sustainable. Do you really think there is absolutely no Factory/Industrial foundation in India or that we only produce IT/Pharma graduates from our colleges ? You do know that the worlds largest petroleum refinery complex is in India. If that does not qualify as an industry, what does ? Chennai in India produces more cars than Detroit and has been producing more cars than Detroit for some time now. And thats just Chennai. Gurgaon, Manesar, Anand, Bhiwandi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nasik, Pune, Chakan, Baddi, Surat...and so on and so forth.
DeleteSeriously, come down to India and see for your own eyes what is happening before commenting after seeing an excel report of some Journalist.
So many workers in Construction means that apart from Housing, they are also building Factories and offices as well. Even though India's manufacturing is considered "weak" we still have a bigger Indistrial output than any EU country save Germany. And that will change soon as now BMW, AUDI, Mercedes, VW all produce cars in India.
If Barak Obama selects the S-92 chopper you can be sure the Fuselage is also gonna be made in India in Hyderabad.
And if you are talking semiconductors and the next holy grail of processors and computing devices and materials IBM and STMicro are also setting up the worlds largest semiconductor fabrication plants in India. Dont knoe about you but the last time I checked, semicondictors and computers and processors were deadly important to Space flight amongst other things.
The fact that save 1 EU country our admittedly weak Indistrial setup trumps any other EU country should tell you that not only are we on the right place, that we are also on the right track for the future. Watch this space for more.
And watch the skies for even more.
Also, I dont need to present any counter argument. Even if we launched 5 more Mangalyaans after this....it still wont even scratch let alone dent our budget because these space missions are not Grandeur seeking missions but well balanced scientific ventures built keeping in mind ground realities. And if you think that space missions are instruments of Grandeur than you are missing the boat to the next biggest phase in Human expolration. Space expolration is not a luxury.....its a necessity.
DeleteIndia is the only nation in history to reach Mars on their very first try (see ISRO's MOM success earlier this year). Yes India is not quite quite up with other space powers yet but it is certainly taking huge chunks out of the opposition year on year and all for a budget of around 6% of NASA's.
ReplyDeleteWith India's economy now on the upswing and ISRO forging ahead with these ambitious projects India is set to become a legitimate space power and much sooner than one might think.
Another competitor. Good. The more the better. I wish with all my heart India to obtain manned space technology – this ancient nation-civilization, on of the World's treasure, deserves it and sooner or later – achieves.
ReplyDeleteIndia is developing.
China rises high.
USA still dominates.
EU is constant.
Russia at the moment sucks. Cosmos pioneers, my ass..
Oh, Angara, I'm going to bite my fingernails to the meat before your start.
C'mon info... some glorious Cosmos pioneer was immortalized in blockbuster movie! http://imageserver.moviepilot.com/screenshot-2014-11-13-at-11-18-58-am-our-best-look-yet-at-adam-warlock-s-cocoon-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy.png?width=590&height=330
DeleteBtw: some time ago I think I read that Russia plan to put new space station on the orbit. And you don't have an Air Force now but an unified Air-Space forces. :D
@Russia plan to put new space station@
DeleteI've read the same.
@unified Air-Space forces@
Yeah, our media is full of such "cosmos-will-be-ours" - by fact we have poor science-cosmos program and lose one rocke to another. In programs with good dynamic (like -Glonass) – milliards were stolen, in programs where money spendings are under total control (like our new cosmodrom) - no dynamic.
I had the feel that Russian space program after chronic lack of cash just burn out it's enthusiasm. The people stop to care. I think the same thing is or was with NASA... ESA was never in that race for real, Japan, China and India start to move on the first place in the space explore race.
DeleteAnd Russians with US will only look at them in the TV screens of broken dreams.
@I had the feel that Russian space program after chronic lack of cash just burn out it's enthusiasm.@
DeleteYes, but now problem is in the System, not money. It is a long and sad story.
@start to move on the first place in the space explore race.@
it's good, very good.
@And Russians with US will only look at them in the TV screens of broken dreams.@
One of the good result of the erupting mutual shit-throwing between the West and Russia – possible impulse to our cosmos programs as one of the main “my-penis-is-bigger” show. The end is not put. A long cosmos-ride only reach and well-protected countries can afford. Some countries can be damaged and leave the riding.