About 17 minutes after the lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in the Bay of Bengal island, telecast live and watched by Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajapyee from his residence in Delhi, the satellite was placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, sending a group of scientists and technicians into rapture.

"It's a great technological achievement for the country," exulted the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Dr K. Kastruirangan. He hugged and congratulated scientists, engineers and technicians at the mission control in Sriharikota when the giant 49-meter tall, 414-ton rocket, powered by Russian cryogenic engines in the upper stage, soared into the azure sky like a blazing arrow, leaving behind thick columns of fire and fume.

The successful launch of GSLV-D2 marked yet another major milestone in India's march toward achieving self-reliance in launch capabilities.

The GSLV, which had undergone a successful first test flight on April 18, 2001, will be declared commercially operational after one more test flight within a year, paving way for India's entry into global satellite launch business in a big way, said an ISRO official

The satellite was placed into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit of 180 km perigee (nearest point to earth) and 36,000 km apogee (farthest point to earth).

The GSAT-2, an experimental communication satellite carried by the GSLV-D2, was placed into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit at 5:15 p.m. Thursday local time, immediately after the satellite was tracked down by ground stations at Biak in Indonesia and Hassan in Karnataka, south India, said ISRO officials.

The satellite would conduct a unique experiment from space to obtain three-dimensional map of the equatorial ionosphere over India -- an area crucial for radio communication.

The GSLV, which lifted off Thursday, is an advanced version mainly in respect of enhanced propellant loading in the core solid motor and optimization of structural elements to carry higher payload.

The payload (GSAT-2) weighs 1,800 tons, about 300 tons more than the GSAT-1 carried by the GSLV-D1 two years ago.

As in the case of the first one, the GSLV-D2 is also powered by Russian Cryogenic engines in the third and final stage of the vehicle.

The ISRO which is in advanced stages of developing indigenous cryogenic engines is expected to use these engines in the next test flight of the GSLV sometime next year.

The Indian government had recently given the green signal to the ISRO for developing a more advanced series of the GSLV to be known as GSLV-Mk III. These were expected to be ready in the next five to six years.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2003)