After launching its first national satellite on a national launcher in 1980, seventh country to do so, eight if one counts also ESA, India has concentrated on a space program with immediate economical advantages and with a very low visibility: the country is launching mostly Earth observation, meteorological and telecommunication missions, not refraining, however, from scientific and astronomy satellite.
In 1992, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) announced that it was studying a planetary mission, to be launched on the new GSLV (Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle). After thinking about missions to Mars and to Venus, the attention of ISRO turned to the least known close planet: Mercury.
The probe should have weighted 250 kg kilograms and should have entered Mercurian orbit after a series of fly-bys of Mercury and Venus.
The proposed instrument package comprised particle detectors, plasma probes, a magnetometer, a plasma analyzer, a 50-100 m resolution multispectral CCD camera, gamma ray, ultraviolet, IR and X-ray spectrometers, IR and microwave radiometers.
However, the project was not approved and for some time no more rumours about Indian planetary missions emerged.
In the meantime, the development of GSLV continued. The rocket is to be a three staged launcher consisting of a first solid propellant stage, a liquid propellant second stage and a cryogenic third stage. For the first launches, GSLV will use Russian cryogenic engines developed for the N1F manned lunar rocket of the Seventies. The launcher, using also four liquid propellant boosters, is a derivative of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) now in use.
After more than five years of oblivion, new words on Indian deep space missions emerged in 1999, when a space agency former president declared that GSLV may be the base for a launcher to carry humans to the lunar surface. The following year, the project of a lunar probe was presented by ISRO to the Indian government for approval. Indian probes may use the PSLV, with an added upper stage, able to launch a 530 kg mass spacecrat on a fly-by trajectory, having a limited scientific interest or a 350-400 kg spacecraft in a 100 km high orbit. Alternatively, the GSLV may launch a 850-950 kg spacecraft on a fly-by trajectory or a 600 kg orbiter. The development of spacecraft, based on the IRS (Indian Resource Satellite) bus and carrying a stereoscopic camera with a ground resolution of 5 meters, an X-ray spectrometer and a gamma ray spectrometer, will unfold in two phases. The first will cost some 3.5 billion Rupees (some 70 million Euros), will conclude in 2004 and will analyze the technical feasibility and scientific interest of such a mission. During the second, five years long phase, costing some 5.0 billion Rupees (100 million Euros) the probe itself will be built.
To give an idea of the Indian space industry capabilities, it is worth remembering that the first stage of both GSLV and PSLV is the fourth most powerful solid fueled engine in the World, coming after the boosters of the Space Shuttle, Titan-IV and Ariane-5.
All of the Indian space launches take place from the Shriharikota island, 100 km from Madras, at a latitude of 13 degrees North.
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