ISRO successfully tests solid rocket booster for Gaganyaan programme

Published: 23rd May, 2022

Context

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out the static test of the HS200 solid rocket booster.

About

About Gaganyaan mission

Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability.
In its maiden crewed mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3 metric tonnes capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two or three-person crew on board.
It is the first crewed mission to space by India and was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's GSLV Mk III in December 2021, but this has since been delayed to no earlier than 2023

What is HS200 solid rocket booster?

HS200 booster is the 'human-rated' version of the S200 rocket boosters used on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), also called the
The HS200 is a 20-metre-long booster with a diameter of 3.2 metres and is the world’s second largest operational booster using solid propellants.
The system is indigenously designed and developed by ISRO in association with many industries in India.

About GSLV MK-III

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III), also referred to as the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3), is a three-stage, medium-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO.
The three stages of the LMV3:
- two solid strap-on motors (S200)
- one liquid core stage
- a high-thrust cryogenic upper stage make up the LMV3
The first successful experimental flight of LVM3 was made in December 2014.
Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit, it is also identified as the launch vehicle for crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
It was used in dedicated science missions like Chandrayaan-2.
The GSLV Mk III has a higher payload capacity than the similarly named GSLV Mk II.
The GSLV Mk-III will have improvements to increase reliability and safety to meet the requirements of 'human ratings’.

Human ratings

While the GSLV Mk III is being human rated for Gaganyaan project, the rocket was designed with potential human spaceflight applications in consideration.
The maximum acceleration during ascent phase of flight was limited to 4 g for crew comfort and 5 meter diameter payload fairing was inducted to be able to accommodate large modules like space station segments.

Testing for the mission

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC IAS