The GSLV consists of the indigenous built cryogenic engine and will be carrying the GSAT-4, an advanced technology communication satellite. Delivering a talk on ‘ISRO Saga Forward’ at the Indian Institute of Science on Saturday, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said that the Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) had been flight tested and would be ready for launch on April 15.

Speaking on the manned mission, he said that ISRO would be ready to send a unmanned crew module into orbit by 2013.  He said “At present, we do not have environmental control and life support system.” Saying that they were working on a crew escape option, Radhakrishnan said that they needed to have a high acceleration device as well. He however assured that in seven years, they would take 2 Indians into space and get them back.

Having set a 2025 deadline for manned mission to the moon, the ISRO chief said that they needed to prepare for a 10 fold increase in payload capacity as this mission required to carry 50 tonnes to the moon and 120 tonnes into the lower earth orbit. The increase in the number of projects have forced ISRO to increase the number of launches per year. Several major missions in 2010-11 like PSLV-C16, GSAT-8, communication satellites like HYLAS and the Megha-Trophiques has resulted in ISRO contemplating about 6-8 launches a year. HYLAS, an acronym for Highly Adaptable Satellite, is a communications satellite being launched for Avanti Communications in UK.
DH News Service

Student satellite
In May 2010, ISRO will be launching the Cartosat-2B, with four payloads. Two of these will be for Canada and one will be a communication satellite for Algeria. The fourth is STUDSAT (Student Satellite) from India. This nano or a pico satellite weighs 1 kg and is designed to operate in low earth orbit at an altitude of 680 kms. As the name suggests, the satellite has been built by a consortium of seven engineering colleges comprising of Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, R V College of Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, BMS Institute of Technology, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology and Sciences, Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Vignan Institute of Technology and Sciences.

The payload consists of a camera capturing images with a ground resolution of 90 metres and the image and telemetry data will be sent from the orbit to the ground station. The mission life is expected to be of six months duration and has been built at a cost of Rs 55 lakh.