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| GSLV Mk-2 at the Launching pad in Sriharikota | Credits- ISRO |
ISRO launching the satellite after a long delay due to the Covid restriction did not fare well as the upper stage of the GSLV Mk-2 malfunctioned and failed the mission. As per the ISRO's statement, it was the Cryogenic upper stage that failed to ignite due to technical Anamoly.
GSLV observed good performance from the strap-on booster, first stage, and second stage but just when acceleration was needed to put a satellite into the orbit it malfunctioned.
GSLV Mk-2 was carrying an EOS-3 Satellite which is critical from the surveillance and mapping perspective. ISRO had scheduled approximately 20 launches for this year but the pandemic jeopardized the plans and pushed it further back. EOS-3 launch was supposed to kickstart the series of launches scheduled but it has come as a setback for ISRO.
GSLV Mk series now have 4 failures out of the total 14 launches and two of the GSLV flights deployed the payloads in the orbit lower than planned.
GSLV and its Cryogenic Upper Stage Engine
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) project was started in 1990 to acquire the capabilities to launch the geosynchronous satellites. Here most of the proven parts of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) were used but an additional third or upper stage was required to inject the satellite into the Geosynchronous transfer orbit.
India reached out to Russia to get their KVD-1 cryogenic stage without the technology transfer as the US opposed the technology and design transfer from Russia under the MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime) agreement. Thus parallelly India began work on its own cryogenic engine.
GSLV Mk-1 had a Russian KVD-1 cryogenic engine embedded in the upper stage which was used until 2010, that is when ISRO replaced it with an indigenous CE-7.5 cryogenic rocket engine. Since it is known as GSLV Mk-2.
The Cryogenic upper stage is fed by super-cold Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) and liquid Oxygen (LOX) propellants. They are required to be operated at extremely cold temperatures. The upper stage has a main engine and two vernier steering engines designed to produce around 16,500 pounds of thrust.
Watch Live: Launch of EOS-03 onboard GSLV-F10 https://t.co/NE3rVjNtHb
— ISRO (@isro) August 11, 2021
What led to its failure?
An animation of the GSLV's upper stage showed the rocket drifting out of control moments after the hydrogen-fueled engine was expected to ignite about 5 minutes into the mission. Initially, it was thought that the third stage ignited but later officials made it clear in the statement that the upper stage did not ignite.
The upper stage was expected to fire for 13 and a half minutes to place the EOS-3 satellite into the geosynchronous transfer orbit from where it would have used an onboard propulsion system to reach the final geostationary orbit.
A plot of the altitude and velocity of the rocket showed the upper stage was not following its planned path. Launch control showed the rocket appeared to reach a maximum altitude of about 87 miles and velocity of approximately 10,700 mph well short of the speed required to enter the orbit.
Thus the upper stage and the satellite on board fell into the atmosphere and would have landed somewhere in the Bay of Bengal or the Andaman Sea.
In 2010, ISRO faced a similar situation when they had replaced the Russian cryogenic engine with an Indian engine in its very first flight, the engines fuel turbo failed about one second after the ignition.
Conclusion
So the inability of the cryogenic engine to ignite due to the technical Anamoly led to the failure of the mission. It is clear that the GSLV Mk series needs some serious upgrades and will only be possible if India focus and invest more in cutting edge technologies. The PPP model in the space sector would certainly help in future.
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