Nellore: Except for one mission, when it lost communication with the GSAT-6A satellite on March 29, 2018, the outgoing year has been a very successful one for the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Notable among the launches include completion of the NaviC constellation of 7 satellites in orbit for India’s own navigation system and the successful launch of its heavy launch vehicle GSLV-Mk III D-1 with heaviest satellite-GSAT-29 in geosynchronous orbit in November 2018.
The success of the mission marked an important milestone for the Indian space programme towards achieving self-reliance in launching heavier satellites. The success also signifies the completion of the experimental phase of GSLV Mark III.
The accomplishment led Isro to join the elite club of nations such as US, China, Russia, Japan and France involved in launching rockets above 4 tonne class.
In addition to this, as part of preparation for the ensuing manned mission, Isro carried out a major technology demonstration on July 5, 2018, the first in a series of tests to qualify a Crew Escape System, which is a critical technology relevant for human spaceflight.
The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a lanch abort.
Isro scientists have been burning the midnight oil to improve the high speed internet connectivity across the country by launching a series of High-throughput Communi-cation Satellites as part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India programme.
As part of the programme to achieve 100 Gigabits per second (GBPS) by 2019, Isro had planned to launch 4 high-throughput satellites by 2019. The organisation had already launched GSAT-19 in June last year, GSAT-29 in November this year and GSAT-11 from French Guiana in December this year. The launch of GSAT-20 has been scheduled for next year.
