The fifth flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-F04, successfully placed India’s INSAT-4CR into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The launch took place on September 2, 2007 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota. This was the fourth successful launch of GSLV.

At 4.8 seconds before count down reached zero at 18:20 hrs IST, the four liquid propellant strap-on stages, each carrying 40 tonne of liquid propellants, were ignited. At count zero and after confirming normal performance of all the four strap-on motors, the 138 tonne solid propellant core stage was ignited and the 414 tonne, 49 m tall GSLV blazed into the sky. The important flight phases included first stage and strap-on stage propulsion, payload fairing separation at an altitude of 115 km, second stage propulsion and cryogenic stage propulsion. The cryogenic propulsion stage was shut down after attaining the required velocity. The 2,140 kg INSAT-4CR was placed in orbit about seventeen minutes after lift-off, about 5,000 km away from Sriharikota.

GSLV-F04 lifts off from the Second Launch Pad carrying INSAT-4CR

INSAT-4CR inside GSLV-F04’s payload fairing

Soon after its injection into GTO, the two solar arrays of INSAT-4CR were automatically deployed. The deployment of the arrays as well as the general health of the satellite were monitored by the ground station of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) located in the Indonesian island of Biak. Later, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took control of INSAT-4CR for all its post launch operations. Ground stations at Lake Cowichan (Canada), Fucino (Italy) and Beijing (China) supported MCF in monitoring the health of the satellite and its orbit raising operations.

GSLV was designed and developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The inertial systems for the vehicle were developed by the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Thiruvananthapuram. The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) also at Thiruvananthapuram developed the Liquid propulsion stages for the strap-ons and the second stage of GSLV as well as the reaction control systems. While the Russian supplied cryogenic stage is used for third stage propulsion, the guidance and control of the stage has been implemented by ISRO. SDSC, SHAR is the launch centre for all the launch vehicles of ISRO. ISTRAC provides telemetry, tracking and command support.

One of the strap-ons of GSLV-F04 being brought to the Vehicle Assembly Building

GSLV was commissioned after both its developmental test flights conducted in April 2001 and May 2003 were successful. In its first operational flight on September 20, 2004, GSLV launched the 1,950 kg EDUSAT into GTO. However, the second operational flight, GSLV-F02, with INSAT-4C on board, conducted on July 10, 2006, did not succeed. The Failure Analysis Committee (FAC), constituted to review the reasons for the failure, concluded that the primary cause for the failure was the sudden loss of thrust in one of the four liquid propellant strap-on motors (S4) immediately after lift-off resulting from the malfunctioning of a propellant regulator. FAC also concluded that the design of GSLV is robust and recommended implementation of stricter control on fabrication, inspection and acceptance procedures. The recommendations of FAC had been implemented in GSLV-F04.
GSLV-F04 prior to launch

INSAT-4CR
INSAT-4CR is the third satellite in INSAT-4 series. It carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders designed to provide Direct-To-Home (DTH) television services, Video Picture Transmission (VPT) and Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG).

INSAT-4CR in deployed configuration

Disassembled view of INSAT-4CR

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It was built to replace an identical satellite, INSAT-4C that was lost due to the failure of GSLV-F02 in July 2006.

Following its stay in its elliptical GTO for a few hours, INSAT-4CR’s orbit was raised to the final Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite’s Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. After the completion of orbit raising operations and positioning it in its designated orbital slot of 74 deg East longitude in GSO, checking out all its transponders commenced and the satellite was commissioned into service. At 74 deg E, it is now co-located with KALPANA-1, INSAT-3C and EDUSAT.

INSAT-4CR was developed by ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore. The payloads were developed by Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. Master Control Facility at Hassan is responsible for all post launch operations of the satellite.

The successful launch of GSLV-F04 demonstrated the operational reliability of GSLV. It also reiterated the end-to-end capability of ISRO to not only build state-of-the-art communication satellites, but to launch them using the indigenously designed and built launch vehicles as well.

GSLV-F04 at Vehicle Assembly Building