Article Posted on : - Mar 03, 2014

The GSLV Mark III vehicle. An ISRO image

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Government has approved the revised allocation of Rs 2962.78 crore for completing the heavy-duty Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III programme and to carry out experimental flight LVM3-X.

The Union Cabinet approved the additional fund requirement of Rs 464.78 crore to complete the scope of the project including one experimental flight called LVM3-X to validate the critical atmospheric regime and two developmental flights called GSLV Mk-III D1 and GSLV Mk-III D2.

Development of the GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle is expected to augment the capacity of the Indian space programme to launch 4T class satellites to Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and thereby significantly reduce the demand-supply gap of transponders in the country.

The indigenous development of the GSLV Mk-III will facilitate launching of four ton class of communication satellites to Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit, benefiting all sections of the society, including remote and far-flung areas of the country.

The GSLV Mark III (GSLV Mk-III) project was approved in 2002 with an outlay of Rs 2,498 crore. The programme will be a major leap in technological complexity as compared to the ongoing Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and GSLV programmes.

The original financial sanction needed to be revised, considering the cost escalation in the project elements, modifications in design and new elements required to complete the scope of the project including two development flights.

The Experimental flight of GSLV Mk-III (LVM3-X) with flight versions of Solid Stages (S200), Liquid Stage (L110) and a passive cryogenic stage (C25) is planned this year to validate some of the new systems and flight sequences, hitherto not demonstrated in PSLV/GSLV flights.

The first development flight (GSLV Mk-III D1) with an operational cryogenic stage is planned between 2016 to 2017. The second development flight (GSLV Mk-III D2) is planned after one year of GSLV Mk-III D1 flight in 2017 to 2018.