Some interesting tidbits!

Although this a comparatively old presentation (around 2009), it provides a load of valuable information. Some information is dated and no longer applies. Many things in this presentation will already be known to people who are following the Indian Space Program closely over the last few years.

Well, the basic Mk II configuration seems to have changed a bit with the GS2 already containing 40 tons of propellant in both of its flights (D3 and D5). The MkIIA configuration will have payload fairing which will be 4m in diameter. The CUS with 15 tons of propellant is said generate 90kN of thrust against 75kN of the current engine (although it can be already throttled above 75kN but not to 90kN).

Annual Report 2009-10

The ISRO Annual Report for the fiscal year 2010-2011 is out. To be frank, this years report is something of a disappointment since there is not much new information released. Some of the missing topics are the development of Semicryogenic engine and something more substantial on the progress of Human Spaceflight Program.



On the GSLV Mk-III front, we have some updates regarding the development of C25 stage.

The development of cryogenic engine for GSLV Mk III is progressing well. The hot test of Integrated Turbo Pump (TP) with Gas Generator (GG) in bootstrap mode was conducted for 40 seconds on August 13, 2010. The bootstrap mode starting of CE20 turbo-pump system with stored gas start up system was carried out and safe ignition of gas generator demonstrated.

Subsystem level development tests have been completed in most of the areas. The project has entered into the phase of stage level tests for propulsion modules and vehicle level tests like Ground Resonance Test (GRT). Based on the development status of various subsystems GSLV MkIII vehicle, the Project has worked out the plan for achieving the first experimental launch during 2012.

The 2012 date would be very hard to keep considering the work still remaining. If everything goes according to schedule the C25 should be ready for stage-level tests only by the middle of next year.

The SRE-2 seems to be delayed from the tone used in the Report. It will now be launched in 2011-12 but is shown in 2012-13 launch slot in the mission profile chart.

The Human Spaceflight program section doesn't provide any new information. It does mention one worrying prospect.

Project report on “Development of critical technologies for Human Spaceflight Project” is under the consideration of Government of India for approval.

The program has to approved as soon as possible for Indians to be launched into space this decade.

With respect to the RLV-TD program, the first demonstration flight, HEX, which was supposed to take place last year will now take place no sooner than in 2012. The report mentions that the vehicle mass was changed and hence a corresponding change in mission design had to be done.

These are the snippets from the Space Transportation area. I will try and post another two posts on Earth Observation Systems and Communication satellites or combine them into one single post.

Link to the Report : 2010-11 Annual Report

PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions

The presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenarion and Future Directions' presented by Dr. B.N.Suresh on 19th June, 2009 at TIFR, Mumbai. Credit:ISRO Click on the slideshow for larger images.

Important Observations:

• Slide 20 gives us an idea of the Indian interplanetary missions on the drawing board. The slide also gives the orbital and fly-by payload capacities of PSLV, GSLV and GSLV -Mk III to Mars, Venus and Asteroid (very vague definition in this case) respectively. The approximate date for robotic missions to Venus and asteroids is mentioned in Slide 34 as 2018 (Interplanetary missions beyond Mars). The Martian mission according to ISRO will take place only after 2015.
• Slide 20 mentions the performance specifications of GSLV-Mk III i.e 4.5 tons to GTO and 10 tons to 400 km LEO. In addition it clearly specifies the growth potential to as 5 to 6 tons to GTO, a previously speculated figure. Slide 14 illustrates the flight sequence of Mk III.
  
• Slide 25-Slide 28 gives some information of the RLV program. Slide 25 is the image of RLV-TD. Slide 26 shows the RLV with an air-breathing engine. Slides 27 and 28 shows the configuration and flight profile of an RLV-TSTO (Two Stage to Orbit) version.
• Slides 29-33 has information regarding the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The slides give information about the crew vehicle and the human-rated GSLV that would launch it and the mission profile. Slide 33 has already been discussed in detail in an earlier post.
  

ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle

A slide for Dr. B N Suresh's presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System: Present Scenario and Future Directions' at TIFR-Mumbai, 19th June 2009 Credit:ISRO

In an earlier post Super Nova had reported on the preliminary concept of an Indian Lunar manned mission presented at IAC-2009. That concept envisaged the development of a crew launch vehicle and a Cargo Launch Vehicle with payload capabilities of 31 and 84 tons respectively to Low Earth Orbit.

The above image shows another concept Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) which would be able to haul 100 tons to LEO. What is interesting in this architecture is that no solid stages would be used on the vehicle. 4 SC460 Semi-cryogenic boosters with the SC800 first stage would generate the lift-off thrust for the vehicle. The C100 upper stage would probably serve as an Earth Departure stage (EDS) .

In addition to the HLV, the presentation slide also gives us an idea of the role that the GSLV-Mk III would play in lead up to Lunar manned mission and more importantly in the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.

As we know the present Human Spaceflight concept envisages the development of a crew capsule (Orbital Vehicle) which would be launched by the GSLV-Mk II. This capsule would probably not feature any docking system due to restriction in the payload capacity of GSLV-Mk II (around 5 tons).

Given the greater capability of Mk-III, ISRO plans to use the vehicle to launch a bigger, better equipped crew capsule which would be use to demonstrate rendezvous and docking in addition Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).

L110 static firing stopped prematurely

ISRO has conducted the static firing of the L110 stage on March 2, 2010. The firing was stopped 150 seconds following a deviation in one of the parameters. Posting the press release in full -


Indian Space Research Organisation conducted the static test of its liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle, for 150 seconds at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri at 16:00 hrs yesterday (March 5, 2010).

While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters was observed. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test. The next static test for 200 seconds will be conducted after analysis of this data.

GSLV Mk III launch vehicle is being developed for launching 4 tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter, L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes. L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV.

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-MkIII requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

PICTURES: S200, L110 static firing preparation

S200 segment assembly at the new SRB facility at SHAR. Copyright:ISRO

Employee checking the alingnment of S200 on the test bed. Copyright:ISRO

Thrust frame being mated with the head of the motor. Copyright:ISRO

S200on the test bed. Copyright:The Hindu

L110 being readied for February tests. Copyright:The Hindu

Motor test bed. Copyright:ISRO

S200 successfully tested, L110 next

Here is the ISRO press release in full -

Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the static test of its largest solid booster S200 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota today (January 24, 2010). The successful test of S200 makes it the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the RSRM solid booster of Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of ARIANE-5. The S200 solid booster will form the strap-on stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) which is currently under advanced stage of development for launching 4 ton class of communication satellites.

S200 solid booster contains 200 tonnes of solid propellant in three segments. The motor measures 22 meter long and 3.2 meter in diameter. The design, development and successful realisation of S200 solid booster were a pure indigenous effort involving Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Shawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota with the participation of Indian Industries. The S200 solid booster derived its heritage from the solid boosters developed earlier for the ISRO launch vehicle programme. The preparation and casting of S200 solid booster segments were carried out at the newly established Solid Propellant Plant (SPP) at SDSC, Sriharikota. During the test, the S200 booster was fired for 130 seconds and

generated a peak thrust of about 500 tonnes. The performance of the booster was exactly as predicted. Nearly 600 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data indicates normal performance.

Todays successful test of S200 is a major milestone in the solid rocket motor programme of ISRO and a vital step in the development of GSLV Mk III.

Here is the S200 brochure

L110 test to follow S200

L110 cluster engines undergoing testing at LPSC

Full-stage testing of the L110 is to follow the ground firing of S200 later this month. The ground-firing of S200 booster is to take place in the third week of January according to the Chairman of ISRO. This will be followed by the test of the L110 engine in the latter half of January or February at the Liquid Propulsion test facility in Mahendragiri. The Chairman retierated that the first launch of GSLV-Mk III would take place next year.

This test will pave the way for certification of the L110 stage. The L110 is India's first cluster engine stage containing a cluster of 2 Vikas engines similar to those used on the basic GSLV. The cluster engine has already been certified in 2007 and this particular test would be a full-stage test. In many ways, it represents another frontier conquered by the Indian space agency.

The L110 stage generates a thrust of around 1400 kN with a burn time of 240 seconds. The entire stage weighs at 119 tonnes with 9 tins being the empty weight. The stage will ignite 113 seconds after lift-off and burning-out at 312 seconds. The stage is also capable of multiple restarts.

The L110 will in the future be replaced by the common liquid core stage (CLC) powered by the Semi-cryogenic engine under development thus making the GSLV Mk-III more capable and providing a platform to test technologies for the UMLV family.

Ground-firing of S200

Ground-firing of an Ariane-5 SRB at Guiana Space Centre

ISRO is supposed to take the first step towards the launch of GSLV-Mk III by ground-firing the S200 booster in January, 2010. S200 is a major component of the Mk-III, providing the thrust at lift-off of the launch vehicle.

The S200 is the third biggest solid booster of any launch vehicle in active service, after the space Shuttle's SRBs and Ariane-5's EAP. This in a way shows that India is going beyond what was historically thought to be a Soviet-based space program. It's a matter of fact that Soviet and soviet based programs like the Chinese, never use solid propellent on their heavy-launch vehicles. Whereas, it's the western space programs that are famous for their extensive use of solids in heavy-lift vehiclea and crew-launch vehicles.

The S200 is a expendable stage carrying 200 tons of propellant with a lenght of 25 m and diameter of 3.2 m. The thrust at liftoff should be around 7000 kN. But, the average thrust output should be around 4500 kN to go with the stated burn-time of 103-104 seconds.

The ground-firing of the S200 will mark the successful development of 2 stages of the Mk-III, viz the L110 and the S200. The C25 is the final stage that remains. According to reports, ISRO has already finalized the design of CE-20 and that the process of fabrication also seems to have started. Once the engine is completed, its will be tested extensively following which there will be full-stage firing of the C25 stage.

Althought ISRO has quoted a launch of 2011 for the Mk-III, it would be an almost improbable task given the status of the upper stage. Fabrication to certication normally takes around 2-3 years. So, it would be safe to assume that the probable launch date of Mk-III would more-likely be 2012-13.

Semi-cryo engine to power GSLV-Mk III core stage

The government of India, in 2008 gave the go ahead to ISRO in it's effort to develop an indigenous Semi-cryogenic engine that would power the core stages of future Indian launch vehicles. The project has been one of the priorities of ISRO and it plans to complete the development phase of the project by 2012.

The design specifications call for an engine delivering about 2 MN (2000 kN) of thrust at sea-level, fueled by Kerosene and Liquid Oxygen using a high pressure staged combustion cycle.
Keeping aside the criticism faced by ISRO for being late by about 25 years in developing this technology, this project really takes ISRO and Indian space capabilities to a new level.

This engine in the long-term will power our future UMLV family and probably the first Indian moon rockets (so called Superheavy launch vehicles), but it does offer interesting possibilities in the shorter term.

ISRO plans to replace the core stage of GSLV-Mk III with a more powerful one powered by this engine. Of course, GSLV-Mk III is yet to fly with it's present configuration but that doesn't mean that ISRO should stop working on future upgrade plans. The present L110 stage of Mk-III is powered by a cluster of 2 Vikas engines powered by Hypergolics. It will enable the Mk-III to put satllites weighing around 4-5 tons into GTO and about 10-12 tons to LEO.

The new core stage could be followed with other upgrades such as an expander cycle upper-stage engines replacing the current gas-generator ones which would allow multiple restarts of the upper stage, hence making the rocket more efficient.

The new core stage will be powered by a single, possibly ground-ignited Semi cryogenic engine with the propellant mass being similar to the present 110 tons. This change will increase the capability of Mk-III to about 6 tons to GTO and about 15 tons to LEO. Upperstage upgrades could further increase the GTO performance.

The timeline of these upgrades would depend on timeline of development of SCE and the GSLV Mk-III program. By current estimates this will happen no sooner than 2015 possibly even later. But testing these new technologies on GSLV-Mk III could act as a testing ground for the future UMLV family which could cut-short it's development time.

GSLV or GSLV Mk-III ??

Well, anybody who is through follower of the Indian Space Program would know that ISRO plans to use the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as the launch vehicle for the OV (Orbital Vehicle). Yes, ISRO has previously expressed it's interest in using the GSLV Mk-III as crew launch vehicle in the future. But, a new article on Flightglobal by Rob Coppinger has put our perspective of Indian Human Spaceflight Program into an abyss.

The article quotes the outgoing Chairman of ISRO, Madhavan Nair, as saying that India would be using it's launch vehicle-in-development, the GSLV Mk-III, as launch vehicle for the manned capsule. What's astounding is that, it completely derails our understanding on the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.

In February of this year, prior to the start of Aero India-09, there were has series of seminars held by ISRO in which the-then Chairman of ISRO, Madhavan Nair, publicized the concept design of the Orbital Vehicle(OV) and had since repeatedly reiterated that the fact that the present version of the GSLV would be used to launch the crew capsule.

Yet, according to new article, ISRO has designated(or re-designated) the Mk-III as the launcher for the OV. According to the previous plan, Mk-III would eventually have been man-rated and would have launched an upgraded/uprated version of the basic orbital vehicle concept with an orbital module and docking capabilities.

So, we can conclude saying that either the article has mixed up facts or that ISRO has actually changed the launcher for OV to Mk-III. If the latter were to be true (which I truly doubt), we can expect some major delays and budget shortcomings in the schedule of the HSF.