Indian Space Capabilities

[Armani]

Congratulations to ISRO. Job well done. Now on to GSLV MK3 in March 2017.

No need to wait that long.

GSLV Mk-3 launch is scheduled for December 2016. With GSAT-19E as payload.

 

[gslv mk3]

From a recent presentation by Dr. A S Kiran Kumar

 

[Bhasad Singh Mundi]

 

[PARIKRAMA]

MAKING GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
The ambitious plan to make India the new center of the experimental physics world

The plans for LIGO India are sending ripples through the physics universe. (Handout/Reuters)
WRITTEN BY
Sonali Prasad
September 04, 2016 Quartz India


In 2016, a week after scientists in the US clinked champagne glasses to celebrate the monumental discovery of gravitational waves in February, an Indian physicist slowly paced across his office in Bangalore, sitting at his desk then standing back, bouncing around with nervous energy. Bala Iyer’s eyes flickered between his phone and computer, cycling between news sites, searching for the announcement he’d been waiting for over the past two decades. A few minutes later, an online alert finally put an end to his wait. The Narendra Modi government had given the green light for a massive project: the construction of a gravitational wave observatory in India.

Iyer couldn’t believe it at first. “I was still dazed, so I got my younger colleagues to reconfirm the news,” he says. But it was true: the Indian government “in principle” approved an estimated budget of $201 million for building an advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) on home soil.

Iyer’s dream to bring the experiment to his motherland began in the 1980s, when a small group of Indian physicists led by Sanjeev Dhurandhar first made the case for a gravitational wave observatory. The arguments were met with silence from the government and other organizations that might have had the power or deep pockets to make such a project happen. Without support or funding, Dhurandhar and Iyer went back to their research. In 1989, Iyer spent a sabbatical interning with renowned French theorists Thibault Damour and Luc Blanchet, working on calculating the nature of gravitational waves using Einstein’s theory of general relativity. He eventually became a part of the scientific group that, in 2016, detected the first gravitational waves on earth, an experimental proof of Einstein’s century-old equations.

“The experiment is sensitive to the fluctuations of the mile-long arm geometries down to the level of the size of a nucleus.”

But all the while, the close-knit group of Indian physicists continued to plot how they could get an observatory in their home country. In 2009, they formed the Council of the Indian Initiative in Gravitational Wave Observations Consortium (IndIGO), which Iyer now chairs. The group relentlessly pursued a collaboration with the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the primary funder of the two existing LIGO detectors in America. After a series of proposals and much deliberation among the international community of gravitational wave scientists, NSF agreed to co-host the third LIGO observatory in India.

Much like its twin counterparts in Livingston, Louisiana and The Hanford Site (a decommissioned nuclear complex near Richland, Washington), LIGO India will be an interferometer with two highly sensitive, four-kilometer-long arms joined in the shape of the letter L, with laser lights bouncing off spherical mirrors at the end of each arm. When a wave passes through the detector—distorting the fabric of time and space—the laser beams from the two arms will fall out of phase, registering an interference pattern at the vertex.

LIGO’s Livingston detector site.(LIGO)
The physical measurements required for gravitational wave detection are arguably the most accurate ever made. “The experiment is sensitive to the fluctuations of the mile-long arm geometries down to the level of the size of a nucleus,” says Rana Adhikari, an experimental scientist and member of the LIGO team at Caltech. “To cancel and isolate from any noise produced by the human environment is herculean in itself, let alone detect waves coming from 1.3 billion light years away.”

To execute such a complex experiment in India, LIGO India will bring together experts from three of the country’s top research institutes: the University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), and the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR). The team currently operating the US detectors will provide the Indian researchers with the hardware for a complete LIGO interferometer that detects the wave signals; technical data on its design, installation and commissioning; and the training required to build and run the observatory. The Indian team will provide the site; all other infrastructure required to house and operate the interferometer; and the labor, materials, and supplies for installing, commissioning, and operating the detector. The plan is to have it operational by 2024.

The ambitious LIGO project will test the skills of India’s engineering, logistics, and manufacturing industries

The India LIGO project is not a charity case. Most existing detectors lie in the northern hemisphere, so LIGO is currently unable to accurately determine the sources of gravitational waves from the southern sky. An observatory in India will help to triangulate the sources of the waves, in much the same way that three cell phone towers are required to identify the location of a cell phone. Two observatories are only sufficient to confirm a detection, but a third detector will expand the network of search and allow scientists to estimate the position of the sources of waves with the span of milliseconds.

The ambitious LIGO project will test the skills of India’s engineering, logistics, and manufacturing industries, as the infrastructure requires state-of-the-art technology and absolute precision. It could also have major downstream effects, since the tech developed could end up being used on lots of other projects, like a particle accelerator or high-precision lasers for medical optics.

But perhaps the most extraordinary impact of LIGO India will be on the burgeoning crop of aspiring Indian physicists and scientists, especially in the field of experimental science. “India has produced some very prominent scientists, but there has been more scope on the theoretical side in colleges and research institutes due to lack of equipment and facilities,” says Adhikari. Like most scientists born in India, he started off as a theorist, but while pursuing his degree oversees, he finally had a chance to get his hands dirty with real equipment and switched to the experimental side.

Adhikari was one of the strongest voices who pushed for the formation of IndIGO in 2009. But now, the consortium doesn’t even need loud advocates: when IndIGO was founded, it had just 11 members; today there are 139 scientists—65 were part of the LIGO collaboration that detected the first gravitational waves. Iyer believes that the community will grow up to about 250 by 2025. “Indian scientists and engineers have always collaborated with many milestone international projects hosted abroad,” Iyer says, “but LIGO India will be the first of its kind, a mega international project set up on our home soil. It will be our turn to shine.”

Prime Minister Modi presides over the signing of the memorandum of understanding with the US for hosting the third LIGO detector in India. (Press Trust Of India (PTI))
LIGO’s first data center in India will be based at IUCAA, in Pune, 150 kilometers (93 miles) outside Mumbai. (LIGO already has five other data centers; four in Germany and one in the US.) Even before the LIGO India detector is complete, scientists there will begin to analyze data coming in from existing detectors when the next run of LIGO begins in September.

But Iyer knows that there is still a long way to go. “We have just set up the base camp of our summit, but the Everest is yet to be conquered,” he says. They still need to figure out where they’re going to build the thing: out of 22 sites proposed as options, three locations have been shortlisted for final technical evaluations for the observatory.

Once it’s there, everything will change. “The presence of world-class infrastructure in the form of the LIGO detector and the latest R&D will attract the right talent for experimental physics from all across the country,” says Adhikari. “India will be synonymous with some of the biggest discoveries of our time.”


http://qz.com/773335/ligo-india-plans/

 

[migflug]

can any one explain me what is
c(27,20): is it cryo stage with 27 ton propellant?
sc (500,5*200) :is it semi cryo with 500 ton propellant? what is 5*200?
sc 2000

 

[Bhasad Singh Mundi]

can any one explain me what is
c(27,20): is it cryo stage with 27 ton propellant?
sc (500,5*200) :is it semi cryo with 500 ton propellant? what is 5*200?
sc 2000

C(x, y) , where x = propellant loading and y = Engine thrust & configuration
C(27, 20) => 27 ton loading and CE20 engine wit 20 ton thrust
SC(500, 5*200) => 500 ton loading and 5 SC2000 engines with a 200ton thrust/engine

 

[migflug]

explanation from br:

Basically the lecture is on theme that with Semi Cryo engine being achieved next year, we have all the building blocks of heavy engines. The possible configuration being discusse are variants of GSLV Mark-3. GSLV Mark-3 will itself carry 4tons (?) to GTO. Its further variant would be modified first stage which will consist of Single SC200 as core stage and two enhanced solid booster S250 as strap ons. The Upper stage will remain as Cryo Engine CE20/C27. This rocket may have a launch capacity to GTO of 6tons (?). Further modification will be to add a Cryo stage in middle consisting of two CE20/C27 engines. This rocket may have a launch capacity to GTO of 10tons (?).

The another line which will be pursued would be clustering 5 Semi Cryo 200 stages which is likely to happen/be tested around 2024 and will be called SC500. This HLV will consist of first stage of SC500 and CE20/C25 as upper stage. This rocket may have a launch capacity to GTO of 6tons (?).Its further variant would be modified first stage which will consist of clustered SC500 as core stage and two enhanced solid booster S250 as strap ons. The Upper stage will remain as Cryo Engine CE20/C27. This rocket may have a launch capacity to GTO of 8tons (?). Further modification will be modified first stage which will consist of clustered SC500 as core stage and four clustered SC500 as strap ons. This rocket may have a launch capacity to GTO of 12tons (?).


While Simultaneously ION engines are being pursued for satellites which will reduce their weight by half. So the heavy variety of Indian HLV would be able to launch a satellite that would equivalent to 24 tons satellite of today (apart from natural progression and sophistication of electronics).

 

[Bhasad Singh Mundi]

explanation from br:

- ISRO is developing 10 ton methane/lox engine for interplanetary missions, eg, propulsion for lander like Morpheus
- Developing space tug to launch sats directly to GTO. this will render LAM useless and will be removed once ion propulsion is reliable.
- 300mN ion engine under development, will be used for a Dawn like psacecraft.

 

[Armani]

View attachment 333360

I'm afraid an improvement is due here.

180nm is too dated as a fabrication process. It belongs to the late 90s level of semiconductor technology.

Tech has grown leaps & bounds since then. The latest is only 14nm, and while I clearly cannot expect ISRO or any space agency to remain up-to-date with semicon fabs (afterall it is not an electronics company like Nvidia), I'd like to see atleast a 32nm process replacing this 180nm CMOS.

 

[Beyond CMOS]

I'm afraid an improvement is due here.

180nm is too dated as a fabrication process. It belongs to the late 90s level of semiconductor technology.

Tech has grown leaps & bounds since then. The latest is only 14nm, and while I clearly cannot expect ISRO or any space agency to remain up-to-date with semicon fabs (afterall it is not an electronics company like Nvidia), I'd like to see atleast a 32nm process replacing this 180nm CMOS.

Few issues with this one:
1. No one will sell ISRO (or any one in India) a 32 nm production line. By an large 32 nm (and smaller nodes) are proprietary technologies of respective foundaries. There is deliberate technology denial here.

2. The 180 nm line is a second hand line that has been imported by ISRO. ISRO's contribution is in making this old line operational in the severely limited Indian ecosystem. As someone who works in semiconductor R&D (both India and abroad) this was NOT trivial.

3. For most of ISRO's needs, 180 nm is enough. They are not making commercial microprocessors, they are mostly interested in Tx/Rx modules and imaging chips. For these applications larger nodes are a very cost-competitive solution. In fact going for needlessly smaller nodes has performance downsides.

 

[mkb95]

Video from onboard camera of GSLV-F05
http://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-f05-insat-3dr/video-onboard-camera-of-gslv-f05

 

[migflug]

 

[Armani]

- ISRO is developing 10 ton methane/lox engine for interplanetary missions, eg, propulsion for lander like Morpheus
- Developing space tug to launch sats directly to GTO. this will render LAM useless and will be removed once ion propulsion is reliable.
- 300mN ion engine under development, will be used for a Dawn like psacecraft.

Dawn has 3 ion thrusters that provide 90mN each, adding up to 270mN. Are we looking at a single 300mN engine or did I misread? Sorry I can't see the video at the moment.

 

[MKC]

 

[gslv mk3]

ISRO’s multi-orbit launch on anvil
DECCAN CHRONICLE.
Published Sep 21, 2016, 12:54 am IST

The rocket will first place the 370-kg ScatSat-1, a weather satellite to watch for cyclones, in orbit 720 km above the earth.

Nellore: The Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for its first-ever attempt to place satellites in different orbits from a single rocket launch next week.

Isro will be attempting the feat when it launches the workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C35 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at Shar, Sriharikota at 9.12 am on September 26.

The rocket will first place the 370-kg ScatSat-1, a weather satellite to watch for cyclones, in orbit 720 km above the earth. About an hour and 20 minutes later, it will inject seven smaller satellites into an orbit 670 km above the earth. Among the seven are two satellites, one of them from IIT-B, and five belonging to international customers including the US.

To achieve this, the fourth stage of the rocket will be ignited twice. The maximum time Isro has taken for any launch is about 20 minutes after launch. Monday’s mission will last 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Satish Dhawan Space Centre director P. Kunhi Krishnan said the ScatSat-1 will be separated within 17 minutes of launch, after the fourth stage is shut off. The stage will be ignited briefly after 1 hour and 22 minutes and stopped. It will be started again about 40 minutes later, and the last satellite will be placed in orbit about 2 hours and 15 minutes after launch.

“We have demonstrated the fourth stage engine restart capability. The fourth stage was restarted once in case of PSLV C-29 and twice with respect to PSLV-C34” Mr Kunhi Krishnan told this newspaper.