ISRO launches India's heaviest rocket GSLV Mark III carrying GSAT-19 communication satellite - 10 IMPORTANT FACTS!

Sriharikota: In yet another big achievement, ISRO on Monday launched its heaviest rocket GSLV Mark-3 carrying the 3,136 kg GSAT-19 communication satellite.

Here are key facts about the India's heaviest rocket:-

- The rocket -  Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) - weighs 640 tonnes 

- It stands 43.43 metres tall

- It blasted off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

- It is carrying a 3,136-kg GSAT-19 communications satellite -- the heaviest to be lifted by an Indian rocket till date -- to an altitude of around 179 km above the Earth after just over 16 minutes into the flight.

- The rocket's main and bigger cryogenic engine has been developed by space scientists

- The mission's success will enable India to launch four-tonne satellites on its own rocket instead of paying huge amounts of money to foreign space agencies to execute the operation.

- According to Indian Space Research Organisation, GSAT-19 with a life span of 10 years is a multi-beam satellite that carries Ka and Ku band forward and return link transponders and geostationary 
radiation spectrometer.

"The rocket's design carrying capacity is four tonnes. The payload will be gradually increased in future flights of the GSLV Mk-III," K. Sivan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

- Interestingly, GSLV-Mk III at around 43 metres is slightly shorter than Mk-II version that is around 49 metres tall. The new rocket may be slightly short but has more punch power.

- India presently has two rockets -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and GSLV-Mk II -- with a lift-off mass of 415 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 2.5 tonnes.