SRIHARIKOTA: ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Wednesday claimed the Chandrayaan-2 project was on track and the space agency was planning to carry out 32 missions next year.
"It will be a busy 2019 year for us. Chandrayaan-2 launch is being planned in the first quarter of 2019. The launch window is between January 3 to February end. We are striving hard for that," he said.
ISRO has managed to accomplish 17 missions this year and the next target is raised to 32 missions.
Quick read:
This is the seventh and last launch in 2018.
GSLV-F11 is the 7th flight of GSLV Mk11.
The satellite GSAT-7A is the 35th Indian communication satellite. It weights 2,250 kg.
The satellite is built to provide communication capability to users in the Ku-band over the Indian region.
Customised for military operations, GSAT-7A will improve real-time aircraft-to-aircraft communication.
The rocket is equipped with the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage.
This three-stage launch vehicle is 51 meters tall and has a lift-off mass of about 421 tonnes.
GSLV-F11 incorporates some major improvements. While the High Thrust Vikas Engine in the second stage enhances the vehicle performance, induction of electro-mechanical actuation system leads to improved reliability.
GSAT-7A is the heaviest satellite being launched by GSLV with an indigenously developed cryogenic stage.
35 days, 3 launches:
In the last 35 days, ISRO has successfully launched three missions from SDSC, starting with GSLV MkIII-D2 on November14, PSLV-C43 on November 29, and finally GSLV-F11 on Wednesday.
Mission life: 8 years