As ISRO GSLV Mk3 rocket zooms towards South Pole, Indian ship 'Sagar Nidhi' will keep track of it

India's Ocean Research Vessel 'Sagar Nidhi' will be maintaining a close watch on the flight path and post-launch mission status of the country's heaviest rocket, the GSLV Mk3. Shortly after launch from India's Spaceport on the Eastern Seaboard, the rocket will be zooming towards the south pole and overflying the Indian Ocean.

That's exactly where ORV Sagar Nidhi, a research ship operated by India's National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) with onboard radars and antennas has been stationed. The 104-metre-long vessel is capable of carrying out geo-scientific, meteorological and oceanographic research.

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Post-launch, a rocket is constantly tracked by stations (antennas) on ground and this process is carried out from multiple ground stations spanning the flight path of the rocket. However, there are times when the rocket is not 'visible' to ground stations. Such situations occur when the rocket flies over the high seas, where tracking stations are unavailable.

ALSO READ |24-hour countdown for GSLV Mk3's first-ever commercial flight to begin Saturday

Such gaps in the tracking process of the rocket's flight path and mission status are filled in by sea-borne assets such as ORV Sagar Nidhi. The vessel has been stationed at a pre-determined location in the Indian Ocean region, far south of the tip of India's Southern peninsula. As the rocket overflies in that large region, the sensors and tracking equipment on board the ship can provide real-time updates to the Indian Space agency, about the manner in which the mission is progressing.

The 24-hour countdown for the first-ever commercial launch of India's heaviest rocket, the GSLV Mk3 commenced at 00:07hrs on Saturday. The launch will be carried out from India's spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota on Sunday, 23rd October at 12:07am IST.

The launch is meant to place 36 satellites of UK-based OneWeb, in Low Earth Orbit, around 601kms above the earth's surface.

During the countdown, the rocket's systems and satellite health will be monitored. Liquid and cryogenic fuels that power the second and third stage of the rocket respectively, would also be filled during the final hours of the countdown.

OneWeb is a global communication network powered from space, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses and communities. The firm is implementing a constellation of Low Earth orbit satellites, which will be arranged in 12 orbital planes with 49 satellites in each plane, this constellation will have a total o 648 satellites. India's Bharti Enterprises serves as a major shareholder and investor in OneWeb. This is OneWeb's 14th launch overall and first-ever launch with the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) and its commercial arm NSIL.

The duration of the mission, from lift-off till separation of the first satellite will be a little over 19 minutes. This launch will mark the entry of the Indian GSLV Mk3 rocket into the global medium-lift commercial launch services arena, which has largely been a duopoly of American and European firms.

The GSLV Mk3 rocket is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-on motors(burns solid fuel), a core-stage liquid booster(burns a combination of liquid fuels) and a cryogenic upper stage(burns liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen). GSLV Mk III is designed to carry a four-tonne class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of its predecessor, the GSLV Mk II.

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