The GSLV-MarkIII will be flight tested in 2 years:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/isro-to-begin-flight-testing-of-gslv-mkiii-in-next-two-years/articleshow/8761258.cmsThis will impact the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission, which will now have to be launched on the GSLV F-Series:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/space/isro-likely-scale-down-chandrayaan-2-886F-Series? I've never even heard of it before. Does anybody have any info on it?
Here is video of the latest test of the S200 solid rocket booster, which took place on Sep 4, 2011 at SHAR:
http://www.asianscientist.com/topnews/india-isro-completes-second-test-of-s-200-solid-rocket-booster/
Acoustic/vibrational tests have been completed on the payload faring for the GSLV Mark-III:http://tarmak007.blogspot.in/2012/03/gslv-mk-iii-payload-fairing-completes.html
From ISRO's 2011 report, it reports that the first flight of GSLV-III will use a "passive upper stage"(pp.61), which presumably is a structural mock-up of the hydrogen upper stage.Does it mean that it will be a sub-orbital flight?
An atmospheric test for the GSLV-Mark-III upgraded version, sans the cryogenic stage, will also take place this year, said Radhakrishnan. “In fact during Jan-Feb 2012 we fully assembled a GSLV-Mark-III in Sriharikota and integrated it on our second launch pad and a series of tests were done followed by a detailed review by experts,” he disclosed.The Isro had also changed its plans for the human spaceflight, he said. Instead of the human spaceflight happening on a GSLV flight, “we now want to do it on a GSLV-Mark-III,” he added.
A test flight of India's third-generation GSLV, called the GSLV Mk.3, has been set for early 2013, Radhakrishnan said."GSLV Mk.3 has crossed several major milestones," Radhakrishnan said. "The lower stages have been qualified, and we will be undertaking an experimental flight of GSLV Mk.3 in a year from Sriharikota essentially to understand the behavior of the vehicle in the atmospheric stage of flight."Propelled by two solid rocket boosters and a liquid-fueled two-engine core stage, the suborbital test flight will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's east coast.Each booster will generate 1.1 million pounds of thrust, making it the third most powerful solid rocket motor in the world after the boosters used on the space shuttle and Ariane 5 launcher.