When integrated in GSLV the 12KRB upper stage can inject an up to 2500-kg spacecraft into geotransfer orbit from Sriharikota-SHAR, the Indian launch center.
12KRB can be employed as the baseline design for integration with the launch vehicles now under consideration.
The 12KRB upper stage was developed and fabricated by the Khrunichev Space Center for GSLV, a new Indian launch vehicle, under a contract with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
12KRB is used as GSLV’s third stage. Its sustainer developed by the Isaev Chemical Machine Building Design Bureau is a cryogenic engine using liquid propellants (namely, the liquid oxygen and the liquid nitrogen). The propellant tanks are made of high-strength aluminum alloys. During pad processing and in flight the exterior of the 12KRB tanks and structural elements are covered with complex thermal insulation so that the required thermal conditions can be maintained.
Today, 12KRB is a series production model. A first successful launch of GSLV with 12KRB as a cryogenic upper stage took place on April 18, 2001.
