With reference to India’s satellite launch vehicle, consider the following statements:
- PSLVs launch the satellites useful for Earth resources monitoring whereas GSLVs are designed mainly to launch communication satellites.
- Satellites launched by PSLV appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth.
- GSLV MK III is a four-staged launch vehicle with the first and third stages using solid rocket motors; and the second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(2018)
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 2 only
d) 3 only
Answer: A
GSLV Mark III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO
PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remote-sensing” satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900 Km altitude. The GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication-satellites to the highly elliptical (typically 250 x 3.6000 Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite in GTO is further raised to its final destination, viz., Geo-synchronous Earth orbit (GEO) of about 3.6000 Km altitude (and zero degree inclination on equatorial plane) by firing its in-built on-board engines. Due to their geo-synchronous nature, the satellites in these orbits appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a 1 and 3 only particular location on Earth, thus avoiding the need of a tracking ground antenna and hence
