SPACE LAUNCH REPORT GSLV/GSLV Mk2 by Ed Kyle Last Update February 17, 2024 by Ed Kyle GSLV Flight History by Variant/Year (2001-Present) L(F) = Number of Launches(Number of Failures) GSLV GSLV-Mk2 GSLV Total Year L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2000 - - - - 2001 1(1) - - 1(1) 2002 - - - - 2003 1(0) - - 1(0) 2004 1(0) - - 1(0) 2005 - - - - 2006 1(1) - - 1(1) 2007 1(1) - - 1(1) 2008 - - - - 2009 - - - - 2010 1(1) 1(1) - 2(2) 2011 - - - - 2012 - - - - 2013 - - - - 2014 - 1(0) - 1(0) 2015 - 1(0) - 1(0) 2016 - 1(0) - 1(0) 2017 - 1(0) - 1(0) 2018 - 2(0) - 2(0) 2019 - - - - 2020 - - - - 2021 - 1(1) - 1(1) 2022 - - - - 2023 - 1(0) - 1(0) 2024 - 1(0) - 1(0) ------------------------------------------------------------------ GSLV GSLV-Mk2 GSLV Total L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Suborb - - - - Orbit 6(4) 10(2) - 16(6) Total 6(4) 10(2) - 16(6) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Footnotes: [1] GSLV Mk 1 2001-2010 Six flights, four failures. GSLV Mk 2 Inaugural failure in 2010. All flights 2014 and later were also GSLV Mk 2. GSLV Vehicle Configurations ------------------------------------------------------------------ LEO GTO Configuration Liftoff Liftoff Payload Payload Height Mass (tonnes) (tonnes) (meters) (tonnes) 200 km x 45 deg ================================================================== GSLV 5 t 2 t 3-stage GSLV w/ 49 m 401 t Russian 3rd Stage Engine GSLV Mk2 5 t 2 t 3-stage GSLV Mk 2 49 m 415 t w/ India's CUS-12 3rd stg GSLV Mk2+ 5 t 2.25 t 3-stage GSLV Mk 2 50.926 m 417.3 t F10-12 w/ India's CUS-15 3rd stg GSLV Mk2+ 5 t 2.274 t 3-stage GSLV Mk 2 51.7 m 420 t F14- w/GL40HT stg 2 and CUS-15 stg 3 ================================================================== Vehicle Components ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark 2 Mark 2 Mark 2 Stg 1 Stg 1 Stg 1 Stg 1 Stg 2 Stg 2 GS1 GS1 L40 L40H GS2 LS2 S125 S139 Boosters Boosters L40 L40 (4 Ea) (4 Ea) ================================================================== Diameter (m) 2.8 m 2.8 m 2.1 m 2.1 m 2.8 m 2.8 m Length (m) 20.3 m 20.1 m 19.7 m 19.7 m 11.6 m 11.6 m Mp (tonnes) 129 t 138.2 t 40 t 42.6 t 37.5 t 39.5 t GLOW (tonnes) 156 t 166.5 t 46 t 48.2 t 42.8 t 45.0 t Engine S125 S139 Viking 2 Vikas 2 Viking 4 Vikas 4 Engine Mfgr ISRO ISRO SEP ISRO SEP ISRO Fuel HTPB HTPB UDMH UDMH UDMH UDMH Oxidizer N2O4 N2O4 N2O4 N2O4 T(SL t) T(Vac t) 479.3 t 489.5 t 69.34 t 70.36 t 73.41 t 73.4 t ISP (SL sec) 237 s 237 s 240 s 240 s ISP (Vac sec) 266 s 266 s 281 s 281 s 295 s 295 s Tburn (sec) 100 s 100 s 160 s 148 s 150 s 150 s No. Engines 1 1 1 Ea 1 Ea 1 1 ================================================================== Vehicle Components Cont'd ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark 2 Mark 2+ Stage 3 Stage 3 Stg 2 Payload GS3 GS3 GS2 Fairing "CS" "CUS" GL40HT ================================================================== Diameter (m) 2.8 m 2.8 m 2.8 m 3.40 m Length (m) 8.7 m 8.7 m 11.958 m 7.86 m Mp (tonnes) 12.5 t 12.8 t (CUS-12) 42.1 t 14.996 t(CUS-15) GLOW (tonnes) 15.0 t 15.3 t (CUS-12) 47.3 t 17.597 t(CUS-15) Engine 12KRB CE-7.5 Vikas 4 Engine Mfgr Glavkosmos ISRO ISRO Fuel LH2 LH2 UDMH Oxidizer LOX LOX N2O4 T(SL t) T(Vac t) 7.65 t 7.495 t(CUS-12) 73.4 t 7.77 t (CUS-15) ISP (SL sec) ISP (Vac sec) 460 s 454 s 295 s Tburn (sec) 750 s 720 s (CUS-12) 141.4 s 842 s (CUS-15) No. 1 1 1 ================================================================== Typical Flight Events Time Event Altitude Velocity ------------------------------------------------------------------ T-4.6 s L40 Strap-on Boosters Ignite 0 km 0 T+0 s S125 Core Stage Ignites - Liftoff 0 km 0 T+100 s S125 Core Stage Burn Out km T+158.4 s L40 Second Stage Ignites km T+160 s L40 First Stage Booster Burn Out /Stage Separation 73 km T+260 s Payload Fairing Separation 110 km T+310 s Second Stage Shut Down 120 km T+314 s Second/Third Stage Separation /Third Stage Ignition 127 km T +1024 s Third Stage Shut Down 195 km 10.2 km/s ------------------------------------------------------------------ GSLV Flight Record DATE VEHICLE ID PAYLOAD MASS(t) SITE ORBIT ------------------------------------------------------------------ 04/18/01 GSLV D01 GSAT 1 1.54 SR 1 [GTO-] 05/08/03 GSLV D02 GSAT 2 1.80 SR 1 GTO 09/20/04 GSLV F01 Edusat 2.00 SR 1 GTO 07/10/06 GSLV F02 INSAT 4C 2.17 SR 2 [FTO] 09/02/07 GSLV F04 INSAT 4CR 2.13 SR 2 [EEO] 04/15/10 GSLV Mk2 D03 GSAT 4 2.22 SR 2 [FTO] 12/25/10 GSLV F06 GSAT-5P 2.31 SR 2 [FTO] 01/05/14 GSLV Mk2 D05 GSAT 14 1.98 SR 2 GTO 08/27/15 GLSV Mk2 D06 GSAT 6 2.117 SR 2 GTO 09/08/16 GSLV Mk2 F05 INSAT 3DR 2.211 SR 2 GTO 05/05/17 GSLV Mk2 F09 GSAT 9 2.23 SR 2 GTO 03/29/18 GSLV Mk2 F08 GSAT 6A 2.14 SR 2 GTO 12/19/18 GSLV Mk2+ F11 GSAT 7A 2.25 SR 2 GTO+ 08/12/21 GSLV Mk2+ F10 EOS 03 2.286 SR 2 [FTO] 05/29/23 GSLV Mk2+ F12 NVS 01 2.232 SR 2 GTO 02/17/24 GSLV Mk2+ F14 INSAT 3DS 2.274 SR 2 GTO ------------------------------------------------------------------ [D01] Upper stage shut down early. Left GSAT-1 4,000 km short of planned GTO apogee. [F02] First stage liquid strap-on failed shortly after liftoff [F04] Launch vehicle placed INSAT-4CR in 168 x 31,786 km x 15.8 deg orbit, well short of planned 170 x 35,975 km x 21.7 deg GTO. Guidance error. [D03] 3rd Stg failed at or near startup. First Indian Cryo Stage. [F06] Control failed T+47 sec. RSO T+63 sec. [D05] ISRO's first indeginous cryo upper stage success. [F11] First indigenous CUS-15 upper stage. [F10] CUS-15 upper stage failed to ignite for first burn, failed to orbit. Loss of LH2 pressurization due vent/relief valve leak. Contamination or damage to valve soft seal likely. Low press caused Fuel Booster Turbo Pump to malfunction, causing abort/shut down. [F12] CUS-15 upper stage Mp= 14.4 tonnes. 1st success after F10 failure. [F14] First with stretched GL40HT second stage. Insat 3DS (2.274 t) to GTO. ================================================================== SPACE LAUNCGH REPORT GSLV/GSLV Mk2 by Ed Kyle Last Update: May 29, 2023 India's Space Research Organization's (ISRO) 401 metric ton, 49 meter-tall, three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), designed to loft 2 tonne satellites to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), has been a conglomerate of Indian, European, and Russian components. ISRO developed the rocket during the 1990s to create an indigenous communication satellite launch capability for India. ISRO adapted stages from India'a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for GSLV. The first stage solid propellant motor and the liquid propellant second stage of PSLV, itself powered by engines used by Europe's Ariane 1, serve as the core first stage motor and the second stage of GSLV. The PSLV second stage was also used as the basis for the GSLV first stage liquid strap-on stages. The first stage uses a 20.3 x 2.8 meter (m), 480 ton thrust solid motor, augmented by four 19.7 x 2.1 m L40 liquid strap-on motors. The non-separating L40s are powered by 70 tonne thrust Viking 2 engines that burn UDMH/N2O4 for 160 seconds, 60 seconds longer than the core. GSLV's 11.6 x 2.8 m GS-2 second stage starts its Viking 4 70 tonne thrust engine just before first stage cutoff, to ensure propellant settling, and burns for 160 seconds. The Glavkosmos 12KRB Cryogenic Stage (CS) then ignites its 73.5 kN KVD-1 LH2/LOX engine for a planned 710 second burn. CS is the first Russian-built liquid-hydrogen upper stage to fly, but ISRO planned to replace it with its own LH2 third stage in a few years. The vehicle is controlled by a strap-down inertial navigation/guidance system housed in a vehicle equipment bay that is mounted on a truss structure atop the third stage. A 7.8 meter tall, 3.4 meter diameter payload fairing protects the payload during ascent until it is jettisonned at an altitude of about 110 km during the second stage burn. ISRO launched its first GSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on April 18, 2001. An early third stage cutoff denied the 49-meter tall rocket's total success in the inaugural D-1 mission. G-Sat 1, a 1,540 kg test payload, fell about 4,000 km short of its planned 36,000 km geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) apogee. G-Sat was unable to make up the difference with its apogee motor and it ended up stranded in a 23-hour drift orbit. GSLV flew successfully in 2003 and 2004. The original PSLV/GSLV launch complex was replaced in 2005 with a new, mobile launch facility. Whereas the original pad featured fixed launch stand and a 75 meter tall mobile service tower, the new pad uses rail-mobile launch stands that allow vehicles to be stacked in a vertical integration building located some distance from the launch pad itself. GSLV serial F-02, the fourth GSLV to fly, failed during its July 10, 2006 attempt to launch Insat 4C from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota island on India's east coast. The failure began to make itself apparent almost immediately after liftoff when one of four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters failed. This created asymmetrical thrust that caused the vehicle to veer from its planned flight path. The 49-metre-tall, 414 tonne, three-stage launcher broke up at relatively low altitude and fell into the Bay of Bengal within sight of the launch pad. On July 31, 2006 ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said that preliminary results of the investigation pointed toward a malfunction of the thrust controller in the strap-on booster engine. Each booster is powered by a single 70-tonne thrust Vikas engine fed by 42 tonnes of hypergolic liquid propellant. Vikas are derived from Viking 2 engines originally used by Europe's Ariane 1 launcher. India Space Research Organization's GSLV-F06, a Mark 1 variant, suffered a control failure 47 seconds after liftoff from Sriharikota's Second Launch Pad on December 25, 2010. The three stage launch vehicle turned sideways at an altitude of 9-10 km and began to disintegrate, a process completed by the transmission of a range destruct command 63 seconds after liftoff. ISRO officials said that steering control commands had stopped reaching actuators on one or more of the four liquid strap on boosters. The precise cause of the failure is under investigation. GSLV-F06 carried 2.31 tonne GSAT-5P, a communications satellite bound for geosynchronous transfer orbit. In order to lift GSAT-5P, GSLV-F06 was fitted with an enlarged 8.6 x 4 meter composite payload fairing and a stretched Russian powered third stage loaded with 15.2 tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant. It was the second failure of a GSLV in two 2010 attempts. GSLV-D3, a Mark 2 variant with India's first cryogenic upper stage, failed on April 15, 2010 when the third stage engine failed at startup. Only two of the seven GSLV launches performed since the rocket premiered in 2001 have flown as planned. GSLV with India's Cryogenic Stage Succeeds India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) successfully boosted the GSAT 14 communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit on January 5, 2013. It was the first success for the launch vehicle since 2004, and the first success for India's indigenously-developed, liquid hydrogen fueled Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS). The 415 tonne, 49 meter tall three-stage GSLV Mk 2 rocket, fitted with a 3.4 meter diameter payload fairing, lifted off at 10:48 UTC from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota to begin the GSLV-D5 development mission. It rose on 690.7 tonnes (1.52 million lbf) of liftoff thrust produced by a solid core motor augmented by four L40 liquid non-separating strap-on motors, each powered by a Vikas 2 engine that burned UDMH/N2O4 until cutoff 149 seconds after liftoff, about 60 seconds after the core burned out. The liquid second stage, powered by a single Vikas 4 UDMH/N2O4 engine, performed a 140.5 second burn to lift the vehicle to a 132 km altitude and a velocity of more than 4,900 m/sec. The CUS LOX/LH2 third stage then fired its 7.5 tonne thrust CE-7.5 engine one time for more than 12 minutes to finish the mission. The 1.982 tonne satellite payload was accelerated toward a targeted 180 x 35,975 km x 19.3 deg orbit. ISRO's CE-7.5 is a staged combustion engine designed to operate at 454 seconds specific impulse - more efficient than the Aerojet-Rocketdyne RL10A-4-1 engine that powers the Atlas 5 Centaur stage. The fixed CE-7.5 engine is augmented by a pair of small steering engines. An August, 2012 attempt to fly GLSV-D5 was thwarted by a second stage propellant leak during the early stages of the countdown. Damage caused by the leak forced ISRO to roll back and dismantle the rocket. Its core first stage and second stage were replaced entirely while its first stage liquid units were refurbished. It was the third GSLV success in eight flights since 2001. References "www.isro.org" References: Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space" SpaceFlightNow "http://www.spaceflightnow.com"