India successfully conducted the static test of its largest solid booster for launching heavier satellites using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk III), the space agency said Sunday.
“The solid booster (S200) will form the strap—on stage for the GSLV-Mark III, which is in advanced stage of development for launching four—tonne class of communication satellites,” the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.
The test was conducted earlier in the day at ISRO’s spaceport (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.
The successful test makes S200 the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) solid booster of Space Shuttle of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and P230 solid booster of Ariane-5 of Arianespace, a launch service and solutions consortium of European countries.
