c
, or c


, was an Indian communications satellite which was lost in a

launch failure in December 2010. Part of the Indian National Satellite System, it was intended
to operate in geosynchronous orbit as a replacement for INSAT-3E.

 

V 1 Satellite
V 2 Launch
V 3 Failure

Satellite

GSAT-5P was a 2,310-kilogram (5,100 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Indian Space
Research Organisation based around the I-2K satellite bus.[1]ISRO also launched the satellite,
and was to have been responsible for its operation. It was equipped with
36 transponders operating in the G/H band of theNATO-defined spectrum, or the C band of
the older IEEE spectrum. Twelve of the transponders operated on extended frequencies
within the band.[2] GSAT-5P was expected to operate for at least 12 years, and would have
been placed at a longitude of 55 degrees east.[3]

Launch

The launch of GSAT-5P used a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.I,[1] serial
number F06, and took place from the Second Launch Pad at theSatish Dhawan Space Centre.
The rocket featured several modifications from previous flights, including an enlarged upper
stage with more fuel to accommodate a heavier payload, and an enlarged composite payload
fairing with a diameter of 4 metres (13 ft) in place of the regular 3.4 metres (11
ft)aluminium fairing.[3]

The launch was originally scheduled for 20 December 2010, but was delayed to allow a
leaking valve on the upper stage to be repaired. [4] Following the repair of the leak, the launch
was rescheduled for 25 December 2010.[5] The countdown began 06:34 UTC on 24
December 2010.[6] and launch occurred at 10:34 UTC on 25 December.[7]
Failure

Forty five seconds after launch the four liquid fuelled boosters attached to the first stage
ceased responding to commands, resulting in a loss of control. Sixty three seconds into the
flight, the Range Safety Officer activated a self-destruct mechanism aboard the rocket,
 causing it to explode. [8][9] Debris from the launch fell into the Bay of Bengal.[10] It was the
second consecutive launch failure involving a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle,
following the loss of GSAT-4 in April 2010. [11]
The GSLV F06 communication satellite launched just now at 4.04 pm from Satish Dhawan
Satellite Launch station at Sri Harikota in Protti Sree Ramulu Nellore District in South Indian
State of Andhra Pradesh, into the air crashed into pieces in the air with in 47 seconds from
the time of launching and communications werre cut. The Indian Scientists have taken too
many astrological cautions on timing of launching of Satellite into the space, despite such
cautions on auspicious time fixing, the mission flopped. Earlier last week the GSLV
launching was poteponed due to hydrogen leakage from the Cryogenic engine of the Satellite.

c
 is being planned as replacement for INSAT-3E and will carry 24 normal C-Band
and 12 extended C-Band transponders with India Coverage. The spacecraft will be positioned
at 55° East longitude with a mission life of 12 years.

The spacecraft weighs 2330 kg and payload power requirement is 1700 W. Spacecraft
configuration and equipment panel layouts are finalised. Payload subsystems and other
subsystem packages are under advanced stage of realisation.

The satellite was lost, when the launch vehicle lost control about 53 sec after launch.

  India



  Communication


 Insat

  ISRO


 12 C-band transponders, 12 extended C-band transponders

   I-2K (I-2000) Bus

  440 Newton thrust liquid apogee motor


 2 solar arrays (2600 W)



 14 years

 2310 kg; 975 kg (dry)

! GEO

The indian GSLV (Geostationary Launch Vehicle) series are launch vehicles in the 2500 kg
to GTO class, which feature a unusual combination of different kind of stages. The first stage
consists of a large solid rocket, derived from the PSLV first stage. It is augmented by four
liquid fueled strap-on boosters, which have a longer burn time than stage 1. Each booster is
powered by a Vikas engine and remains connected with stage 1 during the flight. The second
stage is a liquid fueled stage featuring storable propellants. It is the sam as used in
the PSLV and is also powered with a Vikas engine. The cryogenic stage 3 for the Mk.1
version is powered by the russian KVD-1M engine, which was originally developed for a
cryogenic version of the Proton launch vehicle. It will be replaced by the Mk.2 version,
which features the indian built CS engine. The D2 flight introduced some changes developed
for the GSLV Mk.2 version like the S-139 stage 1 and the high pressure Vikas engines on the
strap-ons.

ĺ complete list of all GSLV launches.

ĺ complete list of all PSLV / GSLV family launches.

"
    
# 
$

c " &'#()* 4 x L-40H / Vikas GS-1 / S-139 GS-2 (L-37.5) / Vikas

Second Failure of Indian Satellite Rocket GSLV , The second failure of the Geo-Synchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in a span of six months is expected to have a serious impact
on Isro¶s three important space programmes, according to space scientists here.

On April 15 this year, a GSLV, powered for

 the first time with an indigenous cryogenic engine, failed. On Saturday, the mission flopped
following a technical snag in the first stage of the rocket.

Speaking to STOI, TIFR space scientist M N Vahia, who has had a long association with
Isro, specifically mentioned three projects which could suffer a temporary setback ² the Rs
425-crore second Indian moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, which will be flown by the GSLV.
³Well, Saturday¶s failure will certainly produce delays in the second lunar programme. If my
payload was being flown on this mission using a GSLV, I would certainly want this rocket to
be tested and evaluated more thoroughly,´ he said. As of now, the mission is slated for lift off
in 2013.

Also to be affected could be the nearly Rs 13,000 crore human space flight mission, for
which a formal green signal is still awaited from the government, Vahia said. Isro chairman
K Radhakrishnan has been quoted as saying that this flight will take off around 2015.

According to Vahia, there could be delays in launching India¶s communication satellites from
Sriharikota because Isro is running out of cryogenic engines. With just one Russian cryogenic
engine left, Isro is in a position to schedule just a single flight of the GSLV firmly in future.
The Indian cryogenic engine is not operational. The question arises whether the space agency
will have to depend on foreign launchers like Ariane for some more time to carry its
communication satellites.

³What happened on Saturday afternoon at Sriharikota was an unnerving situation because

India¶s reputation as a reliable space launching country has taken a serious dent,´ said Vahia.

Secretary of India chapter of Moon Society, Pradeep Mohandas, said: ³If I were the vehicle
director, I would subject all the stages of the GSLV to more exhaustive tests again before
launching a flight.´

Nehru Planetarium director Piyush Pandey expressed confidence that the GSLV will be used
for Chandrayaan-2 though he felt ³there could be a marginal delay if not a major one.´

The most affected by these two GSLV failures are the scientists of Isro¶s Ahmedabad-based
Space Application Centre whose payloads flown by this rocket have headed for the sea rather
than the sky. The GSat-4, with important payloads which was carried by the GSLV, went into
the Bay of Bengal on April 15 followed by GSat-5P on Saturday.
It is in this context that Pandey¶s remark assumes significance when he said that the next
flight of the GSLV should have a dud satellite rather than an operational one which will allow
the rocket to be tested.

According to other space scientists the weight of the GSat-5P, which was 2,310kg, resulted in
Indian and Russian engineers having to modify the parts of the rocket to lift the satellite
which is the heaviest payload ever to be flown by an Indian rocket.

Eminent astrophysicist S M Chitre however sounded a note of optimism when he said: ³We
will succeed and we should not give up the capabilities of the GSLV.´

u + ,
-+
.)
 +

 /

/ 0/  

 

  The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has
reported that today¶s launch of a GSLV booster carrying an advanced communications
satellite has ended in failure. The giant booster, the largest in India¶s fleet, exploded just 63
seconds after launch following what appears to have been a catastrophic failure in the
booster¶s first stage.

According to ISRO the 30 hour countdown for the launch of GSLV-F6 (Geo-Stationary
Launch Vehicle Flight 6) began yesterday and proceeded normally until just after launch
when mission control at the Satish Dhawan Space Center lost control of the rockets four
strap-on boosters.

³The controllability was lost after 45 seconds after lift-off. The control commands to the four
strap-on motors of the first stage did not reach´ ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan told
reporters.

Five seconds later the rocket began to fall and ground controllers issued the destruct
command 13 seconds later.
³I am extremely sorry to say the GSLV F06 mission has failed,´ Radhakrishnan commented
³We hope to get an assessment of what exactly triggered the problem and will go back to it,´
GSLV-F06 was the seventh mission for the GSLV launch vehicle and was intended to launch
the 2310 kg GSAT-5p communications satellite into geostationary orbit. GSAT-5P, was the
fifth spacecraft in the GSAT family. It would have been the largest spacecraft ever launched
by India and was intended to augment the services currently provided by the Indian National
Satellite System. GSAT-5P carried 24 c-band and 12 extended c-band transponders.
Mission controllers are not commenting on exactly what caused the mishap but it appears to
be un-related to the third stage fuel leak that caused ISRO to abort a previous launch attempt
last week. At this point it appears there was a catastrophic structural failure in the boosters
first stage. It is being called the worst failure in the history of ISRO.
ISRO had described this as a ³critical mission´ proving that not only does India have the
ability to place very large payloads into geostationary orbit but that the booster is also safe.
India intends to use an evolved version of the GSLV to launch a manned spacecraft within
the next five years. ùIndia also intends to use the booster to launch its second moon probe.

GSLV-F6 explodes 63 seconds after launch.

Photo Credit: NDTV

BANGALORE: Instability introduced by excessive payload weight was most likely

responsible for the failure of an Indian rocket's launch on Christmas day, an expert in the
field and former scientist of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says.

The scientist, with over two decades of experience with rocket motors, who did not want to
be quoted has disputed ISRO's reasoning that the Rs.3 billion ($66 million) mission that was
meant to launch an advanced communications satellite was brought down because some
cables snapped during the ascent of the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan saod at a post-launch press conference Dec 25 that cables
carrying control signals from the on-board computer to the first stage got snapped and, as the
uncontrolled vehicle started deviating from its flight path, it had to be destroyed.

Radhakrishnan, however, did not say why the cables snapped. ISRO's routine post-launch
press release gave no details but only made a cryptic announcement that the "launch of
GSLV-F06/GSAT-5P mission (was) not successful".

While admitting that the cable might have snapped, the unnamed source, however, disputes
the claim that snapping of the connector cable to the control system actually triggered the
tragedy. "The cable snapping was the effect (of the GSLV breaking) and not the cause of the
mishap," he maintained.

"The cable joints cannot snap just like that," the scientist told IANS. He said the connectors
are locked so well they cannot snap unless the vehicle itself breaks.

According to the source, the GSLV most likely broke due to instability caused by the heavy
payload -- heavier than what the rocket had lifted in its previous missions.

At 2,310 kg, the GSAT-5P communication satellite carried in the ill-fated mission was the
heaviest payload ever lifted by a GSLV. It was 180 kg heavier than the INSAT-4CR launched
successfully by a GSLV in 2007, 400-kg heavier than Edusat launched in 2003 and about 800
kg heavier than GSAT-1 launched in 2001.

According to the source, the following sequence of events might have taken place leading to
the Christmas day disaster:

*The excessive weight of the payload made the rocket tilt due to aerodynamic forces.

* The control signals to correct the attitude must have gone to the first stage gymbal system
as expected normally.

* But the control system failed to arrest the tilting as it was beyond the limit (plus or minus 4
degrees) of controllability.

* The vehicle broke as it was not capable of taking the higher structural load brought about
by tilting beyond the limit.

The source said ISRO scientists, in simulated tests, must have definitely looked at vehicle
stability after increasing the payload "but it is possible that something went wrong".
According to the source, the fact that ISRO had so far never encountered problems with the
first two stages of GSLV further strengthens his hypothesis that the excess payload carried by
the GSLV triggered the series of events leading to the rocket's premature death.

GSLV fails, erupts into ball of flame

India¶s ambitions of entering the market for heavy satellite launches suffered a setback when
GSLV-F06, the rocket carrying a 2,130 kg communication satellite, exploded 63 seconds
after taking off from Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, at 4.04pm on Saturday.
Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan said preliminary findings
indicated that ground control at the Satish Dhavan Space Centre here lost control of the
rocket when four connectors that conveyed messages from one onboard computer to another
snapped 47 seconds after launch.

Radhakrishnan issued the ³abort mission´ order to destroy the rocket within 16 seconds. The
debris fell safely into the Bay of Bengal.

³We will study the flight data in detail and come out with a detailed report within a day or
two,´ he said. The rocket was carrying the GSAT-5P communications satellite, which was to
replace the INSAT-2E satellite, launched in 1999. GSAT-5P, like INSAT-2E, was a
telecommunications and weather forecast satellite.

Now, India will have to hire transponders on foreign satellites ± till it launches a replacement
for the doomed GSAT-5P ± to ensure that these two vital sectors do not suffer ³Such failures
are part and parcel of space launches. The morale of our scientists remain high,´
Radhakrishnan told reporters soon after the crash.

Though India has established itself as a reliable service provider for the launch of light
satellites (up to 2 tonnes), it has not been able to replicate this success with heavy satellites.

And Saturday¶s failure will further delay ISRO¶s ambitions of muscling into this $20-billion
(Rs 92,000 crore) a year market on the strength of its lower cost profile. The cost of
Saturday¶s failed mission (including both the launch vehicle and the satellite) was Rs 325
crore.

NASA, Arianne or any other major satellite launch service provider charge more than double
that for a similar launch.

Saturday¶s failure of the GSLV is the third unsuccessful mission of the total seven of this
indigenously developed space rocket. On April 15 this year, the third developmental flight of
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) primarily for the flight testing of
indigenously developed

Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) could not accomplish the mission objectives.
Like the GSLV (carrying INSAT-4C on board) which failed on July 10, 2006, Saturday¶s
rocket was also fitted with the Russian cryogenic engine.

Unlike the April 15 mission when ISRO had faced anxious moments before the launch as it
was the first time that the rocket was powered by the indigenous cryogenic engine, today¶s
mission was considered ³routine´ and ISRO never expected trouble.

The Failure Analysis Committee comprising multi-disciplinary experts constituted by ISRO

to look into the April 15 failure concluded that ignition of the CUS Main Engine and two
Steering Engines have been confirmed as normal, as observed from the vehicle acceleration
and different parameters of CUS measured during the flight.

Vehicle acceleration was comparable with that of earlier GSLV flights up to 2.2 seconds
from start of CUS. However, the thrust build-up did not progress as expected due to non-
availability of liquid hydrogen (LH2) supply to the thrust chamber of the Main Engine.

This failure is attributed to the anomalous stopping of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP). The
start-up of FBTP was normal. It reached a maximum speed of 34,800 rpm and continued to
function as predicted after the start of CUS. However, the speed of FBTP started dipping
after 0.9 seconds and it stopped within the next 0.6 seconds.

Two plausible scenarios have been identified for the failure of FBTP: (a) gripping at one of
the seal locations and seizure of rotor and (b) rupture of turbine casing caused probably due
to excessive pressure rise and thermal stresses.

The Failure Analysis Committee set up by ISRO after the July 10, 2006, unsuccessful
mission, had concluded that the primary cause for the failure was the sudden loss of thrust in
one out of the four liquid propellant strap-on stages (S4) immediately after lift-off at 0.2 sec.
With only three strap-on stages working, there was significant reduction in the control
capability.

However, the vehicle altitude could be controlled till about 50 secs. At the same time, the
vehicle reached the transonic regime of flight and the vehicle altitude errors built up to large
values, resulting in aerodynamic loads exceeding the design limits, thus leading to break-up
of the vehicle.

Simulations and analyses of flight data and verification through calibration tests have led to
the conclusion that the propellant regulator in the failed engine had much higher discharge
coefficient in its closed condition.

The reason for this could be an inadvertent error in manufacturing, which escaped the
subsequent inspection, and acceptance test procedures.

This is the second consecutive failure of GSLV, the earlier one being on April 15, 2010.

On Saturday, a little more than two minutes after lifting off, the rocket deviated from its path
and exploded mid-air. The monitors showed the rocket plunging, apparently into the Bay of
Bengal. While the last launch¶s problem was with the cryogenic engine, this time trouble
happened soon after the first stage and much before the cryogenic engine was to be fired.
Scientists are yet to give an official explanation for the failure.

After the last GSLV (D3), which used the first indigenous cryogenic engine, failed on April
15, 2010, ISRO had decided to use a pre-purchased Russian cryogenic engine for Saturday¶s
launch. GSLV-F06 was to be launched last Monday, but it had to be postponed after
engineers detected a leak in the cryogenic engine which could have proved disastrous. On
Saturday, the vehicle blasted off from the Sriharikota spaceport at 4.04pm. It was to inject the
2,300-kg satellite 19 minutes later. The satellite was to be used to boost television broadcast,
telemedicine and tele-education. But soon after the first stage separation at 148 seconds, the
mission failed.
ISRO has had a troubled past with GSLV, with only two of the seven launches so far
claiming total success. Though ISRO claims that four launches had been successful,
independent observers call at least two of them either failure or partial success. When it
comes to launching its workhorse PSLV, ISRO has had 15 consecutive successes.

Chennai (PTI) - The count down has started for the launch of India¶s latest communication
satellite GSAT-5P on board GSLV-F06 launch vehicle from Sriharikota on Saturday.

ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI that the 30-hour count down started at 10.04 hours this
morning and was progressing well.

The launch of the satellite, which was originally scheduled for December 20, had been
postponed after a leak in the Russian cryogenic engine on board the launch vehicle.

GSAT-5P with 24 C-band transponders and 12 extended C-band transponders is meant for
augmenting communication services currently provided by Indian National Satellite System
(INSAT). It is meant to boost TV, telemedicine and tele-education, and telephone services.

The satellite, developed by ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, is the fifth in the GSAT series.
It has a designed mission life of 12 years.

India's largest rocket lost control and erupted in a fireball Saturday, dealing another blow to
the country's space program after back-to-back failures of the Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle.
The 167-foot-tall launcher blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at 1034 GMT
(5:34 a.m. EST), or just after 4 p.m. local time Saturday. The launch site is on Sriharikota
Island on the east coast of India.

Trouble struck the rocket less than a minute after liftoff, when video footage showed the
vehicle veering from its flight path, tumbling out of control and being engulfed in a fireball.

"Controllability of the vehicle was lost after about 47 seconds because we found the control
command did not reach the actuators (of the strap-on boosters)," said K. Radhakrishnan,
chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization.

The GSLV is propelled off the launch pad by a single solid-fueled core motor and four L40
strap-on boosters.

The liquid-fueled L40 boosters are each powered by a single engine producing about 170,000
pounds of thrust. The engines burn hydrazine and their nozzles pivot to steer the rocket
during the first two-and-a-half minutes of flight.

Something prevented computer steering commands from reaching the engine gimbal system,
Radhakrishnan said in a press conference several hours after the rocket accident.
"What has caused this interruption at 47 seconds has to be studied in detail," Radhakrishnan
said. "We hope to get an assessment of exactly what occurred."

Radhakrishnan said the rocket "developed large amplitude errors relating to higher angle of
attack" when the steering system failed. The anomaly induced severe structural loads
"leading to the breaking up of the vehicle," the ISRO chief said.

Safety officials issued a destruct command a few seconds later as the GSLV was at an
altitude of nearly 30,000 feet, according to Radhakrishnan.

Footage showed rocket debris falling into the Bay of Bengal just offshore the launch site. A
cloud of twisting exhaust and orange-brown gas hovered over Sriharikota.

The rocket was carrying GSAT 5P, the largest spacecraft ever launched by an Indian booster.
GSAT 5P was designed to replace an aging satellite and extend television and telephone
services across India.

Indian space officials postponed the mission from Monday to resolve a minor valve leak
inside the GSLV's Russian third stage.

Saturday's mishap was the second failed launch this year for the GSLV, which is India's most
powerful rocket. The GSLV has now launched seven times, and ISRO declared four of those
missions failures.

A GSLV flight April 15 fell short of orbit due to a fuel pump anomaly on an indigenous
cryogenic third stage. India is developing and testing a homemade upper stage to replace
engines purchased from Russia.

While engineers fix the problem from April, ISRO approved a pair of GSLV flights using
India's last two Russian-supplied third stages. After Saturday's launch, one more Russian unit
is left in India's inventory.

In the early stages of designing the GSLV booster for communications satellites, India struck
a deal with Russia to provide hydrogen-fueled rocket engines and technical know-how.

The agreement was quashed in 1992 after U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on Glavkosmos,
the Russian company providing technology to India. The United States feared the transfer of
missile technology from the fractured Soviet Union to developing states.

India responded by purchasing seven readymade cryogenic engines from Russia and starting
the design of an indigenous upper stage from scratch.

Officials planned another test flight of the Indian third stage in 2011, but that schedule was
announced prior to Saturday's launch accident. ISRO calls the second-generation all-Indian
rocket the GSLV Mk.2.
GSAT 5 undergoes prelaunch testing. Credit: ISRO

The GSLV was supposed to deploy the 5,093-pound GSAT 5P communications payload
about 19 minutes after blastoff Saturday, according to the Indian Space Research
Organization.

GSAT 5P's weight forced Russian and Indian engineers to modify parts of the rocket to lift
the satellite, which is the heaviest spacecraft ever orbited by ISRO.

The Russian third stage was lengthened 3.6 feet to fit an extra 6,000 pounds of propellant
inside. The additional cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen was designed to permit the upper stage
engine to burn about two minutes longer than on previous flights.

Indian officials said the GSLV needed the additional performance to haul GSAT 5P into the
correct orbit.

The launch was also supposed to test a new composite payload fairing. The larger shroud had
a diameter of 4 meters, or 13.1 feet, while earlier GSLV missions flew with 3.4-meter
aluminum fairings.

After reaching a final perch more than 22,000 miles above the equator, GSAT 5P was
expected to start a 12-year mission serving television, telephone and data networks across
India.

GSAT 5P was to be stationed in geosynchronous orbit at 55 degrees east longitude, replacing

capacity in another satellite nearing the end of its design life.