The Hindu : Front Page : PSLV to blast off from second launch pad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 27, 2005

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Front Page

PSLV to blast off from second launch pad

By T. S. Subramanian

A mock-up PSLV being integrated vertically inside the VAB.

CHENNAI, MARCH 26. When a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) races into the sky from Sriharikota towards the end of April, there will be an important dimension to the mission. It will blast off from the newly-built second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This will be the first time that a launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launched from the state-of-the-art second launch pad, which is a marvel of engineering excellence. It has cost Rs.400 crores to build it and associated facilities. All the 21 launches of the ISRO from 1979 have been from the first launch pad. With two launch pads, there will be more flights every year to orbit satellites. The PSLV flight by the April-end will orbit CARTOSAT-1, which will help in preparing atlases, and HAMSAT to boost communication among amateur radio operators.

The cornerstone of the second launch pad is its ``versatile'' and ``universal'' vehicle assembly building (VAB) in which any type of launch vehicle can be built: the PSLV weighing 300 tonnes; the present-day Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) weighing 420 tonnes; and the futuristic GSLV- Mk-III weighing 630 tonnes; or even a 1,000-tonne rocket.

Only vehicle assembly building

According to ISRO officials, this is the only VAB in the world, where different types of rockets can be integrated vertically. Other space-faring nations have a VAB for each type of vehicle.

The VAB at the second launch pad has awesome dimensions. It is 82 metres tall, rising to a height of a 28-storyed building; 40 metres long; and 32 metres wide. About 12,000 tonnes of cement and 15,000 tonnes of steel have gone into its construction. Its foundation goes 45 metres into the bowels of the earth. Although it is built on the tricky beach sands of the cyclone-prone Sriharikota Island in the Bay of Bengal, it can withstand hurricanes gusting up to 260 km an hour. The entire building is air-conditioned. It has six platforms, moving from a height of 10 metres to 72 metres to help in the vertical integration of the vehicle. It has two cranes. One can lift vehicle stages weighing up to 200 tonnes, and another can deftly handle even a 10-tonne satellite. The VAB has a pleasing exterior too.

A bird's eye view of the second launch pad at Sriharikota _ the mock-up PSLV vehicle is on its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the far right towards the launch tower on the far left. The launch tower is surrounded by four towers with lightning arrestors. The towers house electronic cameras to photograph the launch vehicle's flight.

After the vehicle is built in the VAB on a massive launch pedestal, the pedestal will move along with the vehicle to the launch tower about a km away. At the launch tower, ignition will be given for it to speed into the sky. The launch pedestal, on which the vehicle stands, has 16 huge wheels, each of 1.2 metres diameter. The wheels are driven by a diesel-generator set. The movement of the rocket on the pedestal from the VAB to the launch tower on twin rail tracks will be so choreographed that it will take two hours to traverse the one km! The rail tracks are so sturdy that they can withstand a 2,000-tonne weight-1,000 tonnes of pedestal and another 1,000 tonnes of the rocket.

In the first launch pad, a reverse concept operates. The vehicle is built inside a massive steel structure called Mobile Service Tower (MST), which is 75 metres tall and made of 4,000 tonnes of steel. It is the MST, which moves away on massive wheels before the vehicle blasts off.

The entire second launch pad complex has 100 km of pipelines and 1,000 km of electrical cables.

About 40,000 tonnes of reinforced cement concrete has gone into its making. The launch tower has cavernous tunnels scooped out of the earth at an angle for jets of flames to be deflected into when the rocket blasts off. ``All these reveal the pad's magnitude,'' said an ISRO engineer.

K. Narayana, Director, SDSC, said: ``At the second launch pad, all systems required for the PSLV's integration have been tested. We have gone through mock-ups, detailed tests and evaluation of the launch vehicle and all systems.'' A full-scale mock-up of a PSLV was done in 2004.

``We hope to complete the integration of the PSLV by the end of March. We expect the CARTOSAT-1 to reach SHAR from Bangalore by the first week of April. The satellite will be mated with the vehicle by mid-April and the launch will take place by the end of April.''

The ISRO was behind the novel concept of the universal launch pad complex. MECON, a public sector undertaking, converted it into design and engineering, and did the work on a turnkey basis. About 130 industries and 140 sub-contractors took part in its construction.

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