“The solid propellent booster (S200) will form the strap-on stage for the GSLV-Mark III, which is in advanced stage of development for launching four-tonne class of communication satellites,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here. The test was conducted at ISRO’s spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.
The successful test makes S200 the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the reusable solid rocket motor solid booster of Space Shuttle of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the US and P230 solid booster of Ariane-5 of Arianespace, a launch service and solutions consortium of European countries.
The booster or motor, containing 200 tonnes of solid propellant in three segments and measuring 22 metre, was designed and developed at the space agency’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in hiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Published 24 January 2010, 19:55 IST