GSLV Mk- III popularly dubbed as Fat Boy and Baahubali is all set to launch India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2. This Baahubali launcher is one of the biggest and the most powerful rockets available in India's space garage. As Chandrayaan 2 Moon Mission is all geared up to take off from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 15, we bring to you a brief insight into Chandrayaan 2 launcher, GSLV Mk-III.
Everything that you need to know about India’s ‘Baahubali’ launcher:
Developed by ISRO, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III is a three-stage vehicle. It was primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit. It has a height of 43.43 m and a Diameter of 4.0 m. Further it has a mass of 640 tonnes that can accommodate up to 8,000 kg payload to LEO and 4000 kg payload to GTO.
GSLV Mk-III vehicle is powered by two solid motor strap-ons (S200), a liquid propellant core stage (L110) and a cryogenic stage (C25), that has been designed for carrying the four-tonne class satellites. The C25 is powered by CE-20, India's largest cryogenic engine, designed and developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
GSLV Mk-III flew its first experimental flight in 2014 and since then, the GSLV Mk-3 has been on two development flights. Both of these flights were a success as the satellites were put into the orbit. The last flight was back in 2018. Besides being a part of two missions, the upcoming Chandrayaan 2 mission will one of the most important missions scheduled to be flown by the GSLV Mk-3, as this will help in ascertaining the future of GSLV Mk-III series.
Apart from Chandrayaan-2, this rocket is also all set be a part of ISRO's highly ambitious - Gaganyaan mission. Under this mission, ISRO will send three Indians to space on an Indian spacecraft flying on GSLV Mk-III.
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