Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) has been setting many benchmarks & breaking its own records ever since its inception.
In yet another attempt to push its boundaries, the space agency is said to be working on the improvement of its rocket GSLV-Mark III so that it can be used for human space flight missions.
GSLV MK III, Source: Facebook
According to a report by The Economic Times, K Kasturirangan, the former chief of ISRO has confirmed that ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of its heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III for human space flight missions after receiving the government’s nod.
ISRO successfully launched the first developmental flight of GSLV-MK III, capable of launching four-ton class satellites recently from the Sriharikota spaceport. GSLV-Mk III is the vehicle that will be the workhorse in the near future for primarily launching geo-synchronous missions and heavy spacecrafts in near-earth missions.
“ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of this vehicle. It could go up to a 10-ton kind of capability. It can take to up to four tons and, hopefully with improvements in some of the areas, one can go even beyond four tons,” said Kasturirangan, during whose tenure as ISRO Chairman the GSLV-Mk III was configured and the programme given approval by the Space Commission.
He also mentioned that it’s tailored for future communication satellites to be launched by India. Thanks to the GSLV Mk III, India will not have to depend on any other foreign launch agency.
Kasturirangan also said that ISRO is trying to do a “man-rating sort of thing” (or human rating) to certify a spacecraft or launch vehicle as worthy of transporting humans. Whenever there will be a need for human space flight and the government will approve such missions, ISRO will have an “autonomous ability” to access space through this vehicle in said missions.
“Certainly, it’s a very elegantly-configured system (GSLV-Mk III). I am sure this will certainly serve us for a long time to come in the context of a variety of missions and also make us much more self-reliant in respect to accessing space,” he said.
Also read: ISRO’s ‘Monster’ Rocket Sends Home ‘Selfies’, Finds Major Fans on Twitter!
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