ISRO ready for 100th launch of its GSLV rocket tomorrow

New Delhi:  ISRO is ready to make its 100th launch of the GSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on January 29.

GSLV F15 will lift off from the second launch pad at 6:23 am on January 29, carrying the NVS-02 navigation satellite.

This will be the 100th launch to lift off from Sriharikota. The Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) was the first big rocket to liftoff from Sriharikota on August 10, 1979.

“Standing tall and ready for the skies! Here’s the mighty GSLV-F15 all set to launch the NVS-02 satellite,” ISRO shared in a post on social media platform X.

GSLV-F15 is the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the 11th flight with an indigenous cryo stage.

“It is the 8th operational flight of GSLV with an indigenous Cryogenic stage and 100th Launch from India’s Spaceport Sriharikota,” the space agency said.

GSLV-F15 payload fairing is a metallic version with a diameter of 3.4 meters and it will place NVS-02 satellite in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

The NVS-02 is part of the second-generation satellites for the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system — India’s own navigation system.

The navigation satellite system is designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) service to users in India as well as to regions extending about 1500 km beyond Indian land mass.

The new NVS-02 satellite comes with new features such as supporting the L1 frequency band, which will improve its services and reliability.

“The NVS-02 satellite is the second generation of NavIC satellites, featuring a standard I-2K bus platform. It will have a lift-off mass of 2,250 kg, power handling capability of around 3 kW, navigation payload in L1, L5, and S bands, ranging payload in C-band and will be positioned at 111.75 degrees E, replacing IRNSS-1E,” ISRO said.

NavIC will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). NavIC’s SPS provides a position accuracy of better than 20 meters and a timing accuracy of better than 40 nanoseconds over the service area.

–IANS