GSLV Mark-III to be launched in first week of June; We are getting ready, says ISRO Chairman

ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar

New Delhi: After launching a record-setting number of 104 satellites in February and India's 'priceless gift' – the South Asia Satellite – on May 5 this year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has won the appreciation and admiration of people from around the world.

With its commendable space program, ISRO is being lauded across the globe as one of the pioneers in space, along with exemplaries like NASA, JAXA and Roscosmos.

In another move today, ISRO chief AS Kiran Kumar announced plans of launching the GSLV Mark-III in the first week of June.

"GSLV Mark-III is our next launch. We are getting ready. All the systems are in Sriharikota. The integration is currently going on," he told reporters here while talking about Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III.

"The whole process of assembling the various stages and then integrating the satellite into the heat shield, these activities are going on. First week of June is when we are targetting this launch," he said.

GSLV Mark-III would be a powerful launch vehicle built to lift heavy communications satellites to space.

Noting that communications satellites built beyond the capacity of 2.2 tonnes have to be launched from foreign soil, Kiran Kumar said efforts are on to launch satellites upto four tonnes and even beyond in India itself.

The technology on lithium ion batteries developed by ISRO is good for space programme in terms of cost-effectiveness, but it requires the efforts of industry to develop it to reduce costs, he said.

"But, the same thing, if you have to do in a commercial manner, the prices have to be significantly brought down. That would be possible when it is done on a large scale. What the industry is supposed to do is to take this technology and develop it so that it becomes cost effective for automotive industry," he said.

The lithium ion batteries technology is expected to be used in electric vehicles.

(With PTI inputs)