India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket on Aug. 27 placed India's GSAT-6 telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit in the second consecutive success for the vehicle's domestically built cryogenic upper stage, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. The launch follows the rocket's January 2014 inaugural success, which came after a 2010 failure and an aborted launch. "We have demonstrated that what happened on Jan. 5,2014, was no fluke. All the systems performed normally and the various intricacies of the cryogenic engine have been understood," ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said after the launch. R. Umamaheswaran, ISRO's mission director for the flight, said the next GSLV would be made ready for a launch in June or July 2016. He said the cryogenic stage, which has been upgraded since the January 2014 inaugural success, brings the GSLV rocket's performance to up to 2,500 kilograms into geostationary transfer orbit.
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