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GSLV
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In the 1980's India began designing the GSLV,
a Delta-II class medium launch vehicle, with an
objective of placing 2.5 metric ton payloads into
GTO. The development and launch of the GSLV
rocket is a priority item in the 20-year Indian
national space programme aimed at creating a
dense satellite network to meet the country's
requirements for telecommunications, Earth
sounding, environmental monitoring and other
systems, as well as India's entrance to the
international market of space. The task set for
Indian designers for the near future is to ensure
launching at least one satellite a year.
Drawing heavily on the PSLV, early concepts
for the GSLV borrowed the six strap-on boosters
and first two stages of the PSLV's core vehicle.
A later design suggested replacing the solid
strap-on boosters with four liquid units similar
to the second stage of the core vehicle. The
third stage was to incorporate an indigenous
liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine with a
thrust of approximately 12 metric tons. Component
development for this engine was already underway
in the late 1980's, and subscale development was
still on-going in 1992 .
However, in an attempt to maintain the GSLV
development schedule which called for a first
flight as early as 1997, India in 1992 contracted
with Russia to buy a liquid oxygen/liquid
hydrogen engine (KVD-1/KVD-7.5) developed in the
1970's for the heavy-lift N-1 launch vehicle. The
plan, which had been in negotiations since 1988
came under fire from the US which considered the
transfer of such technology a violation of the
Missile Technology Control Regime. Eventually, a
compromise was reached which allowed the Russian
Federation to supply a limited number of engines
to India (seven) without the transfer of critical
technologies. The first engine was delivered in
1996 for the planned inaugural GSLV mission in
late 1997 or early 1998. Test firings of lower
stage GSLV motors were underway in 1994 .
The GSLV is a three stage vehicle. The first
stage is a 129 tonne solid propellant core motor
with four liquid propellant strap-ons with 40
tonne propellant each. The second stage is a
liquid propulsion system with 37.5 tonnes of
propellant. The cryogenic upper stage has 12
tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
The first flight of the GSLV in mid-2000 will
carry the experimental GSAT-1, that is aimed at
demonstrating advanced communication
technologies. Even though the initial flight of
the GSLV would be using a Russian cryogenic
engine, the second or the third flight in 2001 or
in 2002 would use the Indian-built CUSP
(Cryogenic Upper Stage Project) engine.
The delivery to India of Russian cryogenic
acceleration blocks (CAB) (the so-called
cryogenic engines) and preparations for launching
a GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle)
equipped with a CAB is a major joint project
between India and Russia. It is expected in India
that with the help of CABs they would be able to
launch into a geosynchronous orbit effective
loads of up to 2.5 tons and thereby join the
narrow group of states (Russia, the US, France
and China) with a similar potential in this
field.
Under the initial contract signed in January
1991 the Soviet Union was not only to supply CAB
to India as ready-made units, but also the
know-how for their production in India. The
second Russian-Indian contract concerning the
GSLV project, signed in April 1992, provides for
the delivery of equipment, assembly and testing
of CAB ground support systems by Russia.
However, at the end of 1993, as Russia joined
the Missile Technology Control Regime, the terms
of the contract were revised and now it provides
for the delivery to India of 7 operating CAB
specimens without transferring the know-how for
their production.
The contracts signed by the Russian State
Committee for Space Exploration and the Indian
Space Research Organisation [ISRO] were to be
performed on the Russian side by the Salyut
Design Bureau of the Khrunichev Research and
Production Centre. Salyut opened its
representative office in Madras, 100 km from the
SHAR space launch grounds (Sriharikota Peninsula,
Andhra-Pradesh), because the assembly, autonomous
systems tests and comprehensive tests of CAB
demanded permanent presence of Russian
specialists, from 6 to 50 persons at a time.
For this project, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen
and other compressed gases supply systems, an
automated control system for the preparation and
fuelling of CABs were developed and made in
Russia. More than 80 railway freight cars of
equipment were delivered to the SHAR Centre
space-launch grounds by sea. In 1996 a CAB model
was delivered; its transportation of which by air
(AN-124) cost to India US$200,000. In 1998 the
fuelling CAB model and the first of the seven
flying blocks were delivered. Compressed gases
supply and hydrogen purification systems were
adjusted and subjected to autonomous testing, as
well as fuelling and other automated control
systems were adjusted both at the launching
grounds and at the Centre for Liquid-Propelled
Engine Systems (Mahendraghiri, Tamilnadu). For
this purpose almost 160 Russian specialists were
sent to India during 1998 for a term of up to 2
months and some 50 specialists for shorter terms.
At the SHAR launching grounds, autonomous
systems tests were completed and the automated
control system was adjusted. Comprehensive tests
in mid-1999 were the final stage of preparatory
work.
The repeatedly postponed launching of the GSLV
with a cryogenic accelerating block was scheduled
for September 1999. The launch was delayed
through the fault of both parties: the Indians
were unable to fulfil their part of work in time,
while the Russian side had to face financial and
economic difficulties.
Ground equipment delivered to the SHAR space
center will be maintained for 20 years under the
designer's supervision to be exercised by Salyut
which is to provide additional supplies of units
and systems under new contracts.
For the purpose of expanding satellite launch
potentiality the Indian leadership resolved to
build another launching complex on Sriharikota
Peninsula which would cost several billion
dollars. Leading Indian companies are competing
to obtain a contract under this state order. The
degree of possible participation of Russian
enterprises in this project has not yet been
defined and will depend on the success of the CAB
contracts.
India would not be able to develop their own
cryogenic engine before 2005. In the opinion of
Indian scientists, necessary conditions for the
successful implementation of the project are
available. According to the director of the
Centre for Liquid-Propelled Engine Systems
(Indian CAB development head organisation), they
have completed design of a 7.5 ton engine and
signed a contract for its manufacture with Indian
companies, Godrej and Machine Tools and
Reconditioning (MTAR).
In addition, the work is in progress on the
creation of an infrastructure for servicing
cryogenic engine-propelled rocket launches. For
instance, since August 1996, ISRO has been
producing cryogenic rocket fuel at a plant built
with the assistance of Germany in Mahendraghiri
(Tamilnadu), with a capacity of up to 8,000
litres of liquid oxygen, 5,500 litres of hydrogen
and 2,500 litres of nitrogen; construction of
testing grounds has been started there also.
Furthermore, India has already built basic
facilities for testing the turbine pump and
engine control system. In the opinion of ISRO
specialists, their CAB will be similar to Russian
engines in terms of technical characteristics,
but will be lighter and more powerful.
At the same time, CAB manufacturers faced
certain difficulties. In particular, the low
quality and insufficient supplies of the
necessary aluminum and scandium alloys and of
other special alloys will bring the engine's load
capacity down to 1,000 kg instead of the planned
2,500 kg. In the absence of know-how for the
so-called "wafer structure" and special
equipment for large-diameter casing welding, the
Indian side has to purchase containers for CABs
from the French company Arianespace.
Sources and
Resources
- Other source : www.bharatrakshak.com
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