BANGALORE, January 7, 2014: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) supplied the cryogenic fuel tanks and the cryo stage structures that formed part of the GSLV-D5, which was successfully launched on Sunday, the public enterprise has said.
HAL integrated and provided the four small ‘L40’ booster rockets strapped on to the first stage. L40 denotes the 40 tonnes of liquid fuel they carry.
It also provided the basic structure of the communication satellite GSAT-14, an assembly of composite and metallic honeycomb sandwich panels with a composite cylinder. HAL routinely supplies these pieces of hardware for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch vehicle as well as spacecraft programmes.
Congratulating ISRO on the successful launch that was significant for its indigenously built cryogenic stage, HAL chairman R.K. Tyagi said: “HAL’s aerospace division contributed in a significant way to the launch by supplying 13 types of riveted structural assemblies, seven types of welded propellant tankages, which include the cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks and cryogenic stage structures of the GSLV-D5.” It said the growing HAL-ISRO partnership since the inception of the space programme was poised for bigger ties. For the Mars Orbiter mission of November last year, HAL supplied the spacecraft’s seven types of riveted structural assemblies and four types of welded fuel tankages.
