Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle

	ASLV liftoff
Function	Small-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	ISRO
Country of origin	India
Size
Height	23.5 m (77 ft)
Diameter	1 m (3 ft 3 in)
Mass	41,000 kg (90,000 lb)
Capacity
Payload to 400 km LEO
Mass	150 kg (330 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	SLV, PSLV
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Total launches	4
Success(es)	1
Failure(s)	2
Partial failure(s)	1
First flight	24 March 1987
Last flight	4 May 1994
Type of passengers/cargo	SROSS
First stage
Powered by	2 solid
Maximum thrust	502.6 kN (113,000 lbf) each
Specific impulse	253 seconds (2.48 km/s)
Burn time	49 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Second stage
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	702.6 kN (158,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	259 seconds (2.54 km/s)
Burn time	45 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Third stage
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	304 kN (68,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	276 seconds (2.71 km/s)
Burn time	36 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Fourth stage
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	90.7 kN (20,400 lbf)
Specific impulse	277 seconds (2.72 km/s)
Burn time	45 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Fifth stage
Powered by	1 solid
Maximum thrust	35 kN (7,900 lbf)
Specific impulse	281 seconds (2.76 km/s)
Burn time	33 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle or Advanced Satellite Launch Vehicle (also known as ASLV) was a small-lift launch vehicle five-stage solid-fuel rocket developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to place 150 kg satellites into LEO.^[1] This project was started by India during the early 1980s to develop technologies needed for a payload to be placed into a geostationary orbit.^[2]^[3] Its design was based on Satellite Launch Vehicle.^[4] ISRO did not have sufficient funds for both the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle programme and the ASLV programme at the same time and the ASLV programme was terminated after the initial developmental flights.^[2] The payloads of ASLV were Stretched Rohini Satellites.^[4]

Vehicle

The ASLV was a five-stage vehicle. Two strap-on boosters acted as a first stage, with the core stage igniting after booster burn out. The payload capacity of the ASLV was approximately 150 kg (330 lb) to an orbit of 400 km (250 mi) with a 47-degree inclination.^[4]

At liftoff, the ASLV generated 909.9 kN (204,500 lbf) of thrust. It was a 41,000-kilogram (90,000 lb) rocket, measuring 23.5 metres (77 ft) in length with a core diameter of one metre (3 ft 3 in).^[4] The height to diameter ratio of ASLV was very large which resulted in the vehicle being unstable in flight. This was compounded by the fact that many of the critical events during a launch like the core ignition and the booster separation happened at the Tropopause where the dynamic loads on the launcher was at the maximum.^[5] The aerodynamic characterization research was conducted at the National Aerospace Laboratories' 1.2m Trisonic Wind Tunnel Facility.^[6]

History

The ASLV made four launches, of which one was successful, two failed to achieve orbit, and a third achieved a lower than planned orbit which decayed quickly. The type made its maiden flight on 24 March 1987, and its final flight on 4 May 1994.

Launch history

All four ASLV launches occurred from the ASLV Launch Pad at the Sriharikota Range. For vertically integrated ASLV, many SLV-3 ground facilities were reused but a new launch pad with retractable Mobile Service Structure was constructed within the same launch complex.^[7]

Flight No.	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Launch outcome
D1	24 March 1987^[8]	ASLV	Satish Dhawan Space Centre	SROSS-A	150 kg (330 lb)	Failure
D1	First stage failed to ignite after launch
D2	13 July 1988^[8]	ASLV	Satish Dhawan Space Centre	SROSS-B	150 kg (330 lb)	Failure
D2	Control problems caused launcher to disintegrate
D3	20 May 1992^[8]	ASLV	Satish Dhawan Space Centre	SROSS-C	106 kg (234 lb)	Partial failure^[9]
D3	Orbit lower than expected and incorrect spin-stabilization. Decayed quickly.
D4	5 May 1994^[8]^[10]	ASLV	Satish Dhawan Space Centre	SROSS-C2	113 kg (249 lb)	Success^[9]
D4

Launch statistics

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1987

1990

1994

Failure
Partial failure
Success

Decade-wise summary of ASLV launches

Decade	Successful	Partial success	Failure	Total
1980s	0	0	2	2
1990s	1	1	0	2
Total	1	1	2	4

References

^ "ASLV". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Space Launch Vehicles - ASLV". Archived from the original on 2009-08-29. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
^ Menon, Amarnath (15 April 1987). "Setback in the sky". India Today. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "ASLV". Archived from the original on June 28, 2002.
^ Mukunth, Vasudevan. "U.R. Rao, Former Chairman Who Helped ISRO Settle Down". thewire.in. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
^ "Bengaluru: 1.2m trisonic wind tunnel at National Aerospace Laboratories completes 55 years of service". ANI. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
^ Indian Space Research Organization (2015). "4.1 The Spaceport of ISRO - K. Narayana". From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India's Space Journey. India: Harper Collins. pp. 328, 329. ISBN 9789351776901. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2018-02-09. While most of the facilities realised for SLV-3 was utilised for ASLV, a new launch pad was built in the same complex.This was because, unlike SLV-3, the ASLV had strap-ons and was vertically integrated.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Stretched Rohini Satellite Series 3 & C2".
^ "List of ASLV Launches". Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.

[1] "ASLV". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.

[bharat-rakshak.com-2] "Space Launch Vehicles - ASLV". Archived from the original on 2009-08-29. Retrieved 2009-07-19.

[ITASLV-3] Menon, Amarnath (15 April 1987). "Setback in the sky". India Today. Retrieved 18 January 2014.

[astronautix.com-4] "ASLV". Archived from the original on June 28, 2002.

[5] Mukunth, Vasudevan. "U.R. Rao, Former Chairman Who Helped ISRO Settle Down". thewire.in. Retrieved 2018-02-20.

[6] "Bengaluru: 1.2m trisonic wind tunnel at National Aerospace Laboratories completes 55 years of service". ANI. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2024-11-22.

[FFH2RP_Ch_4.1-7] Indian Space Research Organization (2015). "4.1 The Spaceport of ISRO - K. Narayana". From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India's Space Journey. India: Harper Collins. pp. 328, 329. ISBN 9789351776901. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2018-02-09. While most of the facilities realised for SLV-3 was utilised for ASLV, a new launch pad was built in the same complex.This was because, unlike SLV-3, the ASLV had strap-ons and was vertically integrated.

[LL-8] McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 19 December 2011.

[heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov-9] "Stretched Rohini Satellite Series 3 & C2".

[isro-aslv-10] "List of ASLV Launches". Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.

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[3]

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Vehicle

History

Launch history

Launch statistics

See also

References