India to launch communication satellite using its heaviest rocket

Chennai May 30 (IANS) India will be launching on June 5 communication satellite GSAT-19 using its heaviest rocket which has a capacity to lift a four ton satellites to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) the Indian space agency said on Tuesday.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle - Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) is scheduled to be launched on June 5 at 5.28 p.m.

The rocket in its first developmental flight will carry communication satellite GSAT-19 weighing 3 136 kg as it blasts off from the second launch pad at the rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The GSLV-MK III-D1 is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons a liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage (C25).

GSAT-19 carries Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders.

Besides it carries a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload to monitor and study the nature of charged particles and the influence of space radiation on satellites and their electronic components.

GSAT-19 also features certain advanced spacecraft technologies including miniaturised heat pipe fibre optic gyro Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometer Ku-band TTC transponder as well an indigenous Lithium-ion Battery.

--IANS

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