ISRO’s GSLV Mk-2 Launcher Return to Flight Test in AugustISRO hopes to resu

[thestringshredder]

ISRO hopes to resume its GLSV medium launcher operations with the return to flight test of GSLV D05 fitted with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) and carrying the communication satellite GSAT-14, tentatively on August 6, 2013.

ISRO’s 2012 Annual Report had stated that the next two GSLV missions would be conducted as developmental flights.

GSLV-D05 will be test flown with a 3.4-m payload fairing and indigenous CUS. A follow-up test flight, GSLV-D05, will be conducted with a 4-m payload fairing and indigenous CUS.

ISRO had earlier fitted the 4-m composite payload fairing for the first time on GSLV F06 for its December 2010 launch. The launch failed because a group of 10 connectors located at the bottom portion of the Russian Cryogenic Upper Stage snapped because of aerodynamic loads induced distortion in the fairing, cutting off command signals from the onboard computer in the Equipment Bay (located near the top of the vehicle) to the control electronics of the four L40 Strap-ons of the First Stage.

The launch failure led to the grounding of the GLSV launcher.

A Failure Analysis Committee recommended strengthening of the shroud.

All GSLV flights before GSLV F06 featured a 3.4-m aluminium payload fairing.

ISRO’s focus in the GSLV D05 test in August would be on proving the indigenous CUS which failed during its maiden test on GLSV-D3 on April 15, 2010

The failure was attributed to a malfunction of the booster pump of the indigenous CUS.

On October 12, 2011, S.Ramakrishnan, director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) said the agency had identified and fixed the reasons for the failure of the first engine during the flight of GSLV-D3.

“We have studied the design of booster pumps and redesigned it. The computer simulation was done and validated.” he said.

The booster pump has been successfully hot tested twice in the past three months at the newly-built high altitude test facility (HAT) at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri.

LPSC director MC Dathan told TOI on Friday, June 28 that a mission readiness meet for GSLV-D05 launch was held on Thursday.

Dathan added, “We are very confident after the repeat successful High Altitude Tests in the last three months. Yet we are anxious about the indigenous cryogenic stage which was moved from LPSC Mahendragiri on May 13, it is being integrated with the vehicle at Sriharikota and further checks will be completed within 45 days. It will be ready by July end and tentatively the launch is set for August 6.”

If the two missions are successful, the GSLV program will be considered as being back on track and the launcher will once again be used to launch high value payloads like Chandrayaan 2, which could be launched in 2014.

Link - ISRO