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| The Hindu Newspaper Editorial Vocabulary : 16 November 2018 -For Various Competitive Exams |
Another orbit: on GSAT29 launch
The GSLV-GSAT launch enhances India’s capacity to meet its communication needs
The Indian Space Research
Organisation has marked a big milestone by successfully testing its heavy-lift
launcher while launching an advanced communication satellite. It plans to use
this for the Chandrayaan-II moon mission in the early months of 2019. On
Wednesday the Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII) launched GSAT29, an advanced
communications satellite, into a geosynchronous
transfer orbit where the satellite’s
closest approach to earth would be 190 km and the farthest 35,975 km. The
launcher bearing the 3,423 kg
satellite took off from a launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at
Sriharikota. Seventeen minutes later, after various stages, the vehicle
injected the satellite into the transfer orbit. Taking over smoothly, ISRO’s
master control facility at Hassan assumed the command and control of the
satellite, and it will be manoeuvred
into a geostationary orbit, its final destination, in days. Once placed, the
satellite’s solar panels and antennae will unfold
and work will begin. With a liftoff mass of 640 tonnes, the GSLV MkIII is the
heaviest launch vehicle made in India, and GSAT29 is the heaviest satellite to take off from Indian soil. Both launcher and
satellite have other characteristics that make them stand
out. The launcher can carry payloads
up to 4 tonnes to the geosynchronous transfer orbit and up to 10 tonnes to a
low-earth orbit. The multi-band, multi-beam satellite can cater to the communication needs of people in
Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
The first successful experimental
flight of the GSLV MkIII was in 2014 when it carried a dummy crew module as a
payload. This proved its capacity in the atmospheric flight regime. Its first
developmental flight was on June 5, 2017, when it launched GSAT19, weighing
3,136 kg. The present launch marked the second developmental flight of the
MkIII. With these two successes, the launcher is declared ‘operational’ and joins the ranks of the working vehicles, the
PSLV and the GSLV. This is far fewer than
the number of developmental flights the older launch vehicles were subjected
to. This is because the solid and liquid propellant
stages had been tested before. The third cryogenic
stage could establish its performance in just two developmental flights. Of
course, these were preceded by
numerous experimental flights and ground-based tests. This success sets the
stage for trying out variations such as other types of engines, different fuel
combinations and higher launch capacity. The GSLV MkIII has not just boosted
the satellite into its orbit, but also restored morale
at ISRO, which had been dented by the
GSAT 6A setback.
01. Geosynchronous
orbit (noun) – Geosynchronous orbit is a repeating path in which the
satellite is always in the same area of the sky in respect to the rotating
Earth. (Courtesy: NASA)
02. Bearing
(verb) – carry, take, transport.
03. Take
off (phrasal verb) – lift off, be launched, leave the ground.
04. Manoeuvred
(verb) – move, navigate, guide/direct (carefully & skilfully).
05. Unfold
(verb) – communicate, report, present.
06. Stand
out (phrasal verb) – be more significant; be better than others.
07. Payloads
(noun) – it can be a satellite, space probe, or spacecraft carrying instruments
and others which are (not fuels) used for a rocket’s operation.
08. Cater to (verb) – fulfil, satisfy; serve.
09. Joins the ranks (phrase) – to become a part of
a large group (of something).
10. Far
fewer (phrase) – much less (with a large difference).
11. Propellant
(noun) – fuel, power source (in a rocket engine) to provide thrust during
launch.
12. Cryogenic
(adjective) – relating to the branch of physics that deals with the production
and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
13. Preceded
(verb) – go/come before (in time).
14. Morale
(noun) – confidence, enthusiasm, team spirit.
15. Dented
(verb) – diminish, reduce, weaken.
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