46 years after it conducted the first experimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) that unfortunately crashed into the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Space Research Organisation created history by successfully completing its 100th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The GSLV-F15 lifted off in a picture-perfect launch from the second launch pad of India’s spaceport to begin its journey with the second satellite part of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system.
ISRO’s 100th Launch From Sriharikota
Why In News
- 46 years after it conducted the first experimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) that unfortunately crashed into the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Space Research Organisation created history by successfully completing its 100th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The GSLV-F15 lifted off in a picture-perfect launch from the second launch pad of India’s spaceport to begin its journey with the second satellite part of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system.
About The Launch
- The successful textbook launch was the first under the new ISRO chairman, V Narayanan, who succeeded S Somanath on January 13. It was also the first launch by ISRO in 2025.
- The 99th launch from Sriharikota was on December 31, when the PSLV-C60 mission successfully placed two spacecraft in a circular orbit to conduct the Space Docking Experiment.
- GSLV-F15, with an indigenous cryogenic stage, placed the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) NVS-02 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The satellite will enhance India’s regional navigational capabilities. The 3-stage, 50.9 m GSLV-F15 vehicle had a lift-off mass of 420.7 tonnes.
- The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F15) lifted off with the NVS-02 satellite, which is part of India’s growing network of navigation systems. With this launch, Isro has placed in orbit 548 satellites weighing 120 tonnes. Of this, 433 satellites weighing 23 tonnes were from foreign nations.
- The GSLV-F15 took off at 6.23 am from the second launch pad. It was the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and 11th flight with an indigenous cryogenic stage.
- It was the 8th operational flight of GSLV with an indigenous Cryogenic stage. Despite a few misses in the past by the vehicle — which earned it the nickname “naughty boy” — it has been performing well. The last unsuccessful launch using the vehicle was in 2021 when a lower pressure in a hydrogen tank in the upper stage of the vehicle led to an abort command. The vehicle also launched NVS-01 in May 2023.
- The GSLV-F15 payload fairing – nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere – is a metallic version with a diameter of 3.4 m. To ensure continuous service and improved features, five second-generation NavIC satellites — NVS-01 to NVS-05 — are planned to enhance the existing constellation. These satellites incorporate L1 band communication, which broadens NavIC’s compatibility and usability for diverse applications. India launched NVS-01 satellite on May 29, 2023.
- NVS-02 will help improve NavIC’s services, which are used for navigation, precision agriculture, emergency services, fleet management, and even mobile device location services. It carries an advanced navigation payload operating in three frequency bands (L1, L5, and S) to ensure high accuracy.
- It also has a precise atomic clock called the Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (RAFS) for accurate timekeeping.
NavIC navigation system
- Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is India’s independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity and Timing (PVT) service to users in India as well as to regions extending about 1,500 km beyond the Indian land mass.
- NavIC will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS).
Sriharikota Island
- Sriharikota island, located 80 km north of Chennai, was chosen in 1969 for a satellite launching station. It became operational on October 9, 1971, when an RH-125 sounding rocket was launched.
- The first attempted launch of an orbital satellite, Rohini 1A, aboard a Satellite Launch Vehicle, took place on August 10, 1979, but due to a failure in thrust vectoring of the rocket’s second stage, the satellite’s orbit decayed on August 19, 1979.
- “I am extremely happy to announce that the first launch of this year has been successfully accomplished With GSLV-F15 launch vehicle precisely injecting the navigational satellite NVS-02 in the required and intended orbit. This mission is the 100th launch from our launch pads, which is a very historic milestone for India,” ISRO Chairman Narayanan said from the mission control room after the launch.
- SHAR facility has two launch pads that have important launches, including India’s lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 and Mars orbiter Mangalyaan. Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the third launch pad at a cost of ₹3,984 crore.
