News Highlight
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a Next Gen Launch Vehicle (NGLV).
Key Takeaway
- The NGLV will replace operational systems like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
- It should be “cost-conscious, production-friendly, which can be built in India and operated globally”.
The launch vehicles used by ISRO
- Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV):
- The first rocket developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was simply called SLV, or Satellite Launch Vehicle.
- It was followed by the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle or ASLV.
- Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV):
- SLV and ASLV could carry small satellites weighing up to 150 kg to lower earth orbits.
- ASLV operated till the early 1990s before PSLV came on the scene.
- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV):
- PSLV’s first launch was in 1994, and it has been ISRO’s main rocket ever since. Today’s PSLV, however, is vastly improved and several times more powerful than the ones used in the 1990s.
- It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
- PSLV is the most reliable rocket used by ISRO.
- It successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013 – that later travelled to Moon and Mars, respectively.
- Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV):
- GSLV is a much more powerful rocket, meant to carry heavier satellites much deeper into space.
- It can take 10,000-kg satellites to lower earth orbits.
- The indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), forms the third stage of GSLV Mk II.
- Mk-III versions have made ISRO entirely self-sufficient in launching its satellites.
- Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV):
- SSLV is targeted at rising global demand for the launch of small and micro-satellites.
- SSLV is meant to offer cost-effective launch services for satellites up to 500 kg.
- It is supposed to carry an indigenous earth observation satellite, EOS-03, into space.
- Reusable Rockets:
- The future rockets are meant to be reusable. Only a tiny part of the rocket would be destroyed during the mission.
- The bulk of it would re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and land like an aeroplane, and can be used in future missions.
- Reusable rockets would cut costs and energy and reduce space debris, which is becoming a severe problem because of the large number of launches.
- Fully-reusable rockets are still to be developed, but partially-reusable launch vehicles are already in use.
- ISRO has also developed a reusable rocket called RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator), which had a successful test flight in 2016.
Content Source: The hIndu